Who were your guitar heroes growing up?

My original heroes were definitely Julian Bream and John Williams, probably for slightly different reasons. My great hero growing up was definitely Julian Bream. I loved his recordings. My other hero and someone who was really influential to me was my mother. She was my teacher. I heard her and her students play – she was the reason I wanted to become a guitarist. I’d heard so much guitar music in our house and from a very early age started begging to be allowed to play the guitar and for her to teach me. There are so many wonderful guitarists in the world today, but I think listening to a broad range of music is what I find most inspiring. The guitar has lots of strengths but also a lot of limitations, so listening to other instruments and trying to play beyond the instrument is my goal.

Listening to other instruments and trying to play beyond the instrument is my goal

Who do you think have been the most important composers for guitar?

Historically, guitarist-composers are the ones that have written the bulk of our repertoire. So we play a...