 |
|
 |
| |
Genre : Easy Listening
Latest Release : 500 Years of Guitar
OnlineSeats offers premium unique John Williams tickets. John Williams tickets may be purchased online through our guaranteed safe and secure server. For faster service please order tickets through our web site .
|  |
|
| |
John Williams
Williams was signed to Columbia Records' Masterworks division (now Sony Classical) at the end of the 1960s, where he became that label's answer to Julian Bream at RCA-Victor and Christopher Parkening at Angel Records. Williams' interests, personally and professionally, however, extended far beyond the boundaries of classical music or the usual confines of the classical guitar repertory. He has concertized and recorded with Bream (whom he considers a good friend) and performed with most of England's leading orchestras, but also performed and recorded music in a popular vein as well. By the 1970s, Williams was cutting albums such as Changes and, particularly, The Height Below (the latter done for the progressive Fly Records imprint) which were more rock than classical in nature. He also became a regular performer at Ronnie Scott's, working in more of a jazz-classical fusion mode, and moved into folk music through a concert tour with Ralph McTell. In 1978, Williams linked up professionally with four musicians whom he had previously crossed paths with and admired — Francis Monkman, Tristan Fry, Kevin Peek, and Herbie Flowers — to form the quintet Sky, a jazz-rock fusion band with a strong progressive element. The group quickly gained a popular following in Europe, and Williams redefined the image of what a classical guitarist was with his willingness to play an electric instrument. It was with the latter group in 1980 that Williams enjoyed a number six-charting hit single in England during 1980, an arrangement of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue." His recording of the "Cavatina" from The Deer Hunter also made the British Top 20.
Williams has worked with such non-classical luminaries as bandleader/pianist John Dankworth and singer Cleo Laine, among others, over the years, in various recording and performing pursuits, but he also continues as an active classical artist in concert and in association with Sony Music. He counts himself a fan of Eric Clapton and Joe Pass, among other non-classical guitarists.
External links
Website from Sony Music Entertainment
John Williams fan site
|
|
| |
Artist Biography - John Williams
|
 John Christopher Williams (born 24 April 1941) is one of the world's best-known classical guitarists. He was born in Melbourne in Australia and was taught initially by his father Len Williams. At the age of twelve he went to Italy to study under Andrés Segovia. Later, he attended the Royal College of Music in London.
Williams is best known as a classical guitarist, but has explored many different musical traditions. He has collaborated with Julian Bream and Paco Peña and was a member of the fusion group Sky. He is also a composer and arranger. Williams has commissioned guitar concertos from composers such as Stephen Dodgson, André Previn, Richard Harvey and Steve Gray. He has also worked with composers from his native Australia, including Phillip Houghton, Peter Sculthorpe and Nigel Westlake, to produce guitar works that capture the spirit of his homeland.
He enjoyed a worldwide hit single with his recording of Cavatina by Stanley Myers, used as the theme tune to the Oscar-winning film The Deer Hunter. The son of a guitarist, John Williams — not to be confused with the film composer of the same name — took his first guitar lessons at age seven from his own father. By the time he was 11, he'd been sent to study with Andres Segovia, and the following year, with the virtuoso's endorsement, he earned a scholarship to Siena's Accademia Musicale Chigiana. In 1956, Williams entered the Royal College of Music and took up piano and composition. In 1958, at age 17, he made his London concert debut at Wigmore Hall and followed this with his Paris debut a year later. In addition to his concert work, he spent the next decade teaching at the Royal College of Music.
|
| |
|
For more information , enjoy the official homepage of John Williams
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
