David Mills

I have been passionate about classic guitar all my life. When I was a young child my father made a guitar, which took him several years to complete but when finished gave the most beautiful sound. It would be many years before I could find a professional teacher for this little known instrument in New Zealand.

I taught myself to read music in my early years but struggled with the very complex technique which the guitar requires for its beautiful sound. I was 21 years old and living at that time in Auckland when I started tuition with Daphne Dobson. Daphne had been living in Toronto where she had studied with Eli Kasner who had been a student of Segovia in earlier years. I was to be Daphne's student for many years. During that time I took the opportunity to play in masterclasses conducted by many visiting concert performers. A highlight would be performing in a class conducted by the great player John Williams. I also studied music theory with Dorothea Franchi, who was a wonderful harpist and pianist.

In the late 70s I met and married my wife Adrienne, a young and accomplished guitarist, also a student of Daphne's. For several years we worked as a duo pair performing both public and house concerts until our first child arrived. Around this time I spent several years as the President of the Auckland Classic Guitar Society. My own teaching opportunities grew at this time also and I soon found myself working 12 hour days with private students, secondary schools, adult education classes and out of hours classes filling my days. I was also involved as a conductor for the APPA concerts each year. This would involve rehearsals with primary and intermediate aged students and culminating in a performance in the Auckland Town Hall. In 1990 I travelled to Canada with a group of my students from Rutherford College. We performed as a guitar quartet, playing a various colleges in the province of Alberta.

Today I am an old man but still able to practise and teach my passion albeit with considerably fewer hours than before, but as motivated as ever.