Real Name: Julian Bream
Born: July 15, 1933
Julian Bream is British guitarist and lutenist born on July 15, 1933 in London.
Julian Bream was brought up in a musical environment. His father was a book illustrator and commercial artist, along with this he used to run a small dance band for which he played jazz guitar. Julian Bream was attracted to Django Reinhardt; his father encouraged him to play guitar and piano. His father gifted him a classical guitar on his 11th birthday. He won junior exhibition award for his piano playing at the age of 12. Julian Bream studied cello and piano at the Royal College of Music and at the age of 13, he made his debut guitar performance at Cheltenham in 1947.
Julian Bream performed his debut in the Wigmore Hall in 1951, which gave him critical acclaim. Julian Bream appeared on radio, television and public concerts very frequently during 1952 to 1955.
Julian Bream formed the group “Julian Bream Consort” in 1960, which was an instrumental group based on Elizabethan models. Bream has worked with many composers, among those who dedicated pieces to him are “Richard Rodney Bennett”, Malcolm Arnold”, “Leo Brouwer”, “Peter Racine Fricker”, “Benjamin Britten”, “Humphrey Searle”, “Hans Werner Henze”, “Toru Takemitsu”, “William Walton” and “Michael Tippett”.
In 1954 and 1955, he took his first European tours, which was followed by extensive touring in North America, the Far East, Australia, The Pacific Islands, India and other parts of the world. Julian Bream has recorded extensively for record label “EMI Classics” and RCA (Radio Corporation of America), which made him well known to a large worldwide audiences. These recordings won him many awards, including two for “Best Chamber music Performance”, four “Grammy Awards” and two for “Best Classical Performance”.
Julian Bream met with a car accident in 1984 and he couldn’t regain his previous technical ability.
JULIAN BREAM DISCOGRAPHY (Partial):
- 20th Century Guitar
- 70's
- Dedication
- A Bach Recital for the Guitar
- Baroque Guitar (1966)
- Collection of the Greatest Performances of Julian Bream, Vol. II
- Concertos for Lute and Orchestra
- Dances of Dowland
- Elizabethan Lute Songs
- Elizabethan Music by The Julian Bream Consort
- The Golden Age of English Lute Music
- Julian & John
- Julian Breams Greatest Hits
- Julian Breams Greatest Hits Volume Two
- Lute Music of John Dowland
- Music for Voice and Guitar with Peter Pears
- Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar
- Rodrigo: Concerto De Aranjuez, Berkeley Guitar Concerto (1975)
- Sonatas for Lute and Harpsichord—Bach, Vivaldi with George Malcolm
- Villa-Lobos, Twelve Etudes for Guitar, Suite populaire bresillienne (1978)
- The Woods So Wild