Born in Kingston upon Thames in 1947, John Mills took up the
guitar at the age of nine. Initially self-taught, he later studied
at the Spanish Guitar Centre in London and then at the Royal
College of Music under the professorship of John Williams.
In the summer of 1968, having been awarded a grant by the Spanish
government, he travelled to Spain to take part in the famous
masterclasses given by the legendary Andres Segovia, held
in Santiago de Compostela. Two years later he played in
masterclasses given by Julian Bream at the University of
Warwick.
Working largely as a soloist during the 1970s
and early 1980s, John performed in over 25 countries recorded
several albums and numerous radio programmes for BBC radio
broadcast.
He was a guitar tutor at the Royal College of
Music’s Junior Department for several years in the early 1970s,
then Head of Guitar at the Nelson School of Music in New Zealand
from 1985-88, before taking up a professorship at the Royal Academy
of Music – a position he held for twenty years. John was invited to
join RWCMD as Head of Guitar in 1992 and while he retired as head
of department in 2014, he continues in his role as senior guitar
teacher at the College.
John was also associated for many years with
the celebrated International Classical Guitar Summer School &
Festival held at West Dean, including eleven years as Director,
until 2012.
In addition to his career in performing and
teaching, he also is involved with research into the early guitar,
particularly the transitional guitar of the late 18th
century, as well as the emergence and development of the modern
guitar in the second half of the 19th century.
In other areas of music, he is a keen advocate
of the music of Frederick Delius and is a member of the Delius
Society. He has also made a study of, and written articles about
the Soul Music scene of the USA in the 1960s.
In 2017 - as well as reaching his 70th birthday -
John will also celebrate 55 years on the concert stage. He
continues to perform internationally, as well as giving frequent
masterclasses, seminars and workshops. He is also very active in
the field of chamber music with duos consisting of guitar and
violin, harpsichord, piano, voice, and of course music for two
guitars with his wife Cobie Smit.