Born in Melbourne, Australia, John Williams can be regarded as a foremost ambassador of the guitar. He was taught by his father, afterwards attending summer courses with Segovia at the Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and studying music at the Royal College of Music in London. By the early 1960s he had performed in London, Paris, Madrid, Japan, Russia and the US: he has since toured the world playing both solo and with orchestra and regularly on radio and TV. John Williams records for SONY Classical.

Amongst his collaborations with other musicians, those with Julian Bream, Itzhak Perlman, Andre Previn, Cleo Laine, John Dankworth and Daniel Barenboim are particularly important. His other musical activities have included the groups SKY, John Williams and Friends, Attacca, The National Youth Jazz Orchestra with Paul Hart, Paco Pena, the Chilean group Inti-Illimani, and various collaborations with Richard Harvey.

John Williams maintains a wide-ranging interest in contemporary music. Examples have included his recording of music by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu with the London Sinfonietta, an album featuring the music of Peter Sculthorpe and Nigel Westlake called "From Australia" and his CD of music by the Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, called "The Black Decameron", which includes Brouwer's Fourth Concerto. His many other recordings include several of Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez", concertos by Richard Harvey and Steve Gray, “Vivaldi Concertos", "The Great Paraguayan", "John Williams plays the Movies", "The Guitarist" (which includes his own “Aeolian Suite” with string orchestra) the "Arpeggione" sonata by Schubert and "Concerto, Op.30" by Giuliani with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, in which he plays an 1814 Guadagnini guitar. The highly successful "Profile" and "The Seville Concert", both directed by David Thomas for London Weekend Television's South Bank Show, are particular examples of John Williams’ enthusiasm for communicating music on television.

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John Etheridge rightly enjoys a glowing reputation throughout the jazz world and beyond and has been described by Pat Metheny as, "One of the best guitarists in the world". He is a prodigiously gifted and creative player whose approach to music can only be described as 'eclectic' as he refuses to accommodate or even acknowledge artificial musical boundaries. His range is well illustrated by his years of touring and recording with the iconic Stephane Grappelli while simultaneously doing likewise with the legendary jazz-fusion group, The Soft Machine. John is equally at home on acoustic and electric guitar and his willingness to engage with so many styles is matched by his ability to excel in any of them. He has played with Nigel Kennedy, Andy Summers, Birelli Lagrene, Pat Metheny, Barney Kessel, Yehudi Menuhin, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Cobham and many others - associations that attest to the breadth of his musical experience. John's ability as an outstanding composer is sometimes overlooked but he is often under pressure from audiences to feature more of his own material.

In July 2006, John began touring a great new programme in a duo set-up with John Williams, the most celebrated classical guitarist of this generation. The two Johns have worked together before, most notably on their interpretations of African music with Francis Bebey, Richard Harvey, Chris Laurence and Paul Clarvis and documented on the CD 'The Magic Box'. John Williams had always retained a desire to explore further the enticing combination of classical and steel-string guitar and got back in contact with John to realise this ambition. The result is stunning! John Williams rightly describes this pairing of classical and steel-string as a 'first' even though he hates that term. Musically, the project dips again into the wellspring of the great African influences but it offers so much more including a sensational and technically demanding suite, newly composed for the two Johns by the American composer and guitarist, Benjamin Verdery. The programme was recorded live at the Dublin International Guitar Festival and has now been released by Sony. The tour continues into 2007 with dates across the US and elsewhere. The coming together of these two great players is a genuine musical milestone, not just in their performance but also in their instruments.

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Sunday June 6 at 13:30-14:30 Tampere Hall, Studio
Document: The Guitar is Their Song by Charlie Williams
Free

Monday June 7 at 12-14 Tampere Hall, Small Auditorium
In Touch With John Williams
Free