John Williams is widely acknowledged as the greatest living classical guitarist, having established his place in the genre's top rank over the course of thirty years. He has made more than thirty best-selling recordings of a broad range of music for classical guitar, either solo or in collaboration with artists such as Julian Bream, Itzhak Perlman, André Previn, Cleo Laine and Paco Peña. He has contributed to film scores, most notably The Deer Hunter and A Fish Called Wanda. Although known primarily as a classical player, Williams has explored many different musical traditions, from Latin American to African to jazz-fusion, even joining The Who’s Pete Townshend for an acoustic performance of Won’t Get Fooled Again.

John Etheridge enjoys a stellar reputation throughout the jazz world and beyond. His range is well illustrated by his years spent with the iconic Stéphane Grappelli, whilst simultaneously touring and recording with the legendary jazz-rock fusion group The Soft Machine. In addition to this current partnering with John Williams, Etheridge has performed with Yehudi Menuhin, Dizzy Gillespie, Nigel Kennedy, Pat Metheny and countless others.

John Williams and John Etheridge will present a programme which features solo sets from each of them. They will also join together for a selection of their own compositions as well as some specially commissioned pieces by the American guitarist and composer Benjamin Verdery, and some of the music from Mali, Senegal and Madagascar which they have developed during their association over the last few years.

"A superbly poised mixture of influences, from West African dance rhythms to swing, with delicate elaborations on baroque themes."
The Times

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