John Zaradin was born in the UK and began playing the guitar at the age of thirteen, eventually completing formal studies with Alexander Lagoya in Paris. Through his teenage years he was tutored by Albert Kay in the “Schillinger System of Musical Composition and Arranging Techniques”.
His professional life began performing with the violinist, Jan Resek, in Germany and the UK, after which his London début concert, in 1968, at the Purcell Room, Royal Festival Hall, launched him into the London musical world. Here, he was exposed to a wide variety of music and performed in studios, in theatre and on the concert platform. He made, at this time, the guitar recordings for the television series “The Strauss family” with the London Symphony Orchestra.

His London theatre life began at the Royal Court Theatre with Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” evolved onto the West End stage at the Piccadilly Theatre with “Man of La Mancha” and continued into touring with, amongst others, the musicals “Hair” and “Fiddler on the Roof” and then with the companies Ballet Rambert, London Contemporary Dance and Glyndebourne Opera.
In 1972 Belwin Mills became his first publisher and he made his first solo recording: “Concierto de Aranjuez” by J. Rodrigo (EMI/CFP) for which he received a gold album award in 1983.

He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for its world tour of Peter Brook’s production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” (USA venues Kennedy Center Washington DC, Music Center, LA, Geary Theater, San Francisco).
This whole year of touring awakened in him an interest in the music of the Latin Americas and especially of Brazil and, at the end of the tour, he continued his travels in the Latin Americas and began to create his own catalogue of compositions.

Returning to Europe, he toured as soloist with the companies Brasil Tropical, Brazukas and Tangos of Brasil, recorded a second album “Zaradin’s Guitar” for EMI (1976). He then formed his own group “Images of Brasil” which played original works and music from Brazil, making television and radio performances and performing in venues as varied as Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

In 1988 Alby James, director of the Temba Theatre Company, invited him to compose and perform original music for his production of “Romeo & Juliet”, the setting of the play being transposed to Havana from Verona. The score was created for solo classical guitar triggering synthesizers, via MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), allowing orchestral colours and sound effects to be incorporated into the production. The music was performed live without any sequencing or pre-recording and demonstrated how computer technology could greatly expand the possibilities of the acoustic instrument. “Caribbean Fantasy for Guitar” is the music from this production compiled and arranged as a suite for solo guitar.

October 2002 saw the première of “Azraq Suite for Guitar & Orchestra” in Newport News, Virginia. John Zaradin composed and performed the work with Ann E Argodale conducting the York River Symphony Orchestra. The Suite of 6 movements, scored for guitar, full chamber orchestra, Latin percussion & rhythm section, was subsequently recorded at Sony Studios in London with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

Amongst his numerous compositions, all of which can be viewed @ MUSIC, “Getting Into Latin Guitar”, (Mel Bay Publications) is a recent tutorial introduction to guitar techniques within the Latin idiom and “School of the Latin Guitar” offers detailed notes on interpreting traditional and original music songs, dances and styles of the Latin Americas.

As a writer John Zaradin features in “Masters of Jazz Guitar” with an informative chapter on the Guitar in Brazil.

Today, if John Zaradin is not on land, he can be found playing concerts aboard the world’s most luxurious and sophisticated cruise liners to a demanding and varied public captivated by his unique guitar sound and style of playing.