Williams, John (Christopher) (i)(b Melbourne, 24 April 1941).
Australian guitarist. He began learning the guitar at the age of
four with his father, Leonard Williams. He moved to England in 1952
and subsequently participated in Segovia's summer courses at the
Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena: later he attended the RCM,
where he studied piano and music theory. After his Wigmore Hall
dbut in 1958, he gave highly successful concerts in Paris and
Madrid. In 1962 he toured the Soviet Union, and in 1963 made dbuts
in Japan and the USA. He was professor at the RCM (196073),
deputized for Segovia at the Santiago de Compostela summer courses
(19612) and became visiting professor at the RNCM in 1973. He was
one of the first classical musicians to play at Ronnie Scott's
Club, London. He has given duo recitals with Julian Bream and
enjoyed musical collaborations with musicians such as Cleo Laine,
Paco Pea, Itzhak Perlman and Andr Previn. In the 1970s his concerts
and recordings stimulated a revival in the compositions of the
Paraguayan guitarist Agustn Barrios.In 1978 Williams performed
music for the film The Deer Hunter. In 1979 he formed the group
Sky, dedicated to its own distinctive popular repertory. Leaving
Sky in 1984, he formed the ensemble John Williams and Friends,
which toured extensively (19837). He was artistic director of South
Bank Summer Music from 1984 to 1986 and of the Melbourne Arts
Festival in 1987. After touring the USA (199091), he formed a new
group, Attaca, to play specially commissioned contemporary music.
During the 1990s he increased his concert tours in Europe, East
Asia, the USA and Australia and continued to expand his already
prolific recording activities. He was made an OBE in 1980 and was
awarded the Order of Australia in 1987; he is an honorary fellow of
the RCM and RNCM.From the start of his career, Williams has
displayed remarkable technical mastery, which has influenced
subsequent generations of players and raised the technical
expectations of the instrument to new heights. Many composers have
written works for him, including Leo Brouwer, Stephen Dodgson and
Andr Previn.BIBLIOGRAPHYG. Wade: Traditions of the Classical Guitar
(London, 1980) G. Clinton: John Williams (Interview), Guitar
International, xiii/4 (19845), 912 C. Cooper: John Williams,
Classical Guitar, iii (19845), no.6, pp.1317; no.7, pp.235 C.
Kilvington and C. Cooper: Conversations with John Williams,
Classical Guitar, viii (198990), no.5, pp.1013; no.6, pp.1316;
no.7, pp.5052 M.J. Summerfield: The Classical Guitar: its
Evolution, Players and Personalities since 1800 (Newcastle upon
Tyne, 1991) C. Cooper: John Williams: A New Profile, Classical
Guitar, xii (19934), no.2, pp.1114; no.3, pp.1620 J. Tosone: A
Conversation with John Williams, Guitar Review, no.97 (1994), 28
GRAHAM WADE
