Timothy Kain

Initially inspired by popular music and flamenco, Timothy Kain took his first classical guitar lessons with Sadie Bishop at the Canberra School of Music. After graduating he lived in Spain and England, studying with José Tomás and Gordon Crosskey, and winning first prize in the Third International Guitar Competition in Alicante and the Royal Northern College of Music Bach prize.

His performing and teaching have taken him around the world, building an international reputation as a soloist and chamber musician. In 1992 he joined John Williams’ seven-piece group Attacca and later formed a duo with Williams, touring extensively in the UK and Australia and releasing their award-winning Sony Classics CD The Mantis and the Moon.

A long-standing focus has been Australian music: collaborations with leading composers, and commissions and performances of solo, chamber and concerto works for guitar. Many of these appear on Sony, ABC Classics, Tall Poppies and CSM, with his solo release Mirrors of Fire (TP169)—almost entirely specially commissioned pieces—an especially important addition to the catalogue.

Alongside that commitment to new Australian repertoire, he has nurtured the next generation as Head of Guitar at the Australian National University’s School of Music. A curriculum centred on original Australian works has helped produce outstanding younger players who commission, perform and record new music. Many Canberra students have won major national and international competitions, including first prizes in Vienna, Tokyo, Italy, Spain and the USA, and most ANU graduates have gone on to performing and teaching careers of their own.

Another focal point is his guitar-family quartet Guitar Trek. From 1987 the group pioneered a specially made family of guitars of different sizes and a new repertoire with original Australian music at its heart. Strong popular appeal has brought best-selling CDs on ABC Classics and regular touring at home and abroad. A disc of original Australian quartets written for the group (TP221) was recorded for release in 2012.