Julian Alexander Bream, CBE (born 15 July 1933), is an English virtuoso classical guitarist and lutenist. One of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perception of the classical guitar as a respectable instrument.

Bream was born in Battersea, London, and brought up in a musical environment in Hampton. Bream described his parents as both “conventional suburban”, but in another way “very unusual”. His father was a commercial artist, with an “extraordinary talent for drawing” and a “natural musician” according to Bream. Bream would lie under the piano in “ecstasy” when his father played. His mother, of Scottish descent, was a very beautiful woman who was often, according to Bream, “not always there” mentally and did not like music, but was a warm-hearted person. His grandmother owned a pub in Battersea, and Bream spent much time there during his youth. His father played jazz guitar and the young Bream was impressed by the playing of Django Reinhardt; he would later call his dog “Django”.

Bream began his lifelong association with the guitar by strumming along on his father’s jazz guitar at an early age to dance music on the radio. He became frustrated with his lack of knowledge of harmony, so read instruction books by Eddie Lang to teach himself.^[4] His father taught him the basics. The president of the Philharmonic Society of Guitars, Dr Boris Perott, gave Bream further lessons, while his father became the society librarian, giving young Bream access to a large collection of rare music.

On his 11th birthday, Bream was given a small gut-strung Spanish guitar by his father. He became something of a child prodigy, at 12 winning a junior exhibition award for his piano playing, enabling him to study piano and composition at the Royal College of Music. Aged 13, he made his debut guitar recital at Cheltenham on 17 February 1947; in 1951, he debuted at Wigmore Hall.