Julian Alexander Bream was an extremely talented guitarist and lutenist who brought classical guitar into the spotlight of the music industry. He won many awards during his lifetime, including four Grammy awards. Bream was born in the district of Battersea in London, England. He began his passionate interest in music from a very early age, mainly due to his father who had an interest in playing music by ear. When he grew older, he was accepted to the Royal College of Music, but he quit shortly after due to the lack of respect for guitarists and joined the military. After more than three years of service, he decided to ramp up his musical career and take his interest in the guitar to a global level through tours during the 50s and 60s. Many of his recitals were of 17th century pieces, including Bach, and popular Spanish repertoire. During the later part of his career, BBC started taking interest in Bream’s performances, and chose to broadcast a variety of types of media dedicated to him and his work. He continued to perform until 2002, and he lived the rest of his life at his village home in Donhead St. Andrew. He died at the age of 87 on August 14, 2020. He would go down in history as one of the leading musicians to bring classical guitar out of obscurity into the concert halls of the world.
