Guitarist John Lehmann-Haupt is known equally for his arrangements of popular and traditional songs and for his classical interpretations. He has performed throughout the Northeast and in the homes of such prominent New Yorkers as Tom Brokaw and Madeleine Albright. His 12-year engagement at Windows on the World was cited for musical excellence by The New York Times. It’s a pleasure to welcome John back to Downtown Music.
John Lehmann-Haupt, guitar,
John Lehmann-Haupt, guitar, received his first guitar on his fifth birthday. With the help of his father, he was soon picking out songs by ear. The records he heard at home – by Segovia, Leadbelly, Josh White, Merle Travis, and others – gave him a taste for a wide range of music and seeded the variety of his future repertoire. By his early teens, he had developed into an agile fingerstylist of promise and had put out a limited- edition album of folk ballads and blues.
Formal training came later, with his intensive study of harmony and analysis under Blanch Moyse at Marlboro College in Vermont and his private study with guitarist Julio Prol in New York City. It was on this foundation that John built his unusually broad repertoire, which balances classics with his fluently voiced arrangements of traditional and popular songs. Master classes under Oscar Ghiglia and Angel Romero and private instruction in Schenker analysis rounded out his musical education.
From 1981 until 1993, John performed nightly at New York's Windows on the World in the acclaimed Cellar in the Sky, atop the World Trade Center; the engagement was cited for musical excellence by The New York Times in 1986. John has also performed in the homes of such prominent New Yorkers as Tom Brokaw and Madeleine Albright, and in concerts and clubs throughout the Northeast. John's 1978 album Unsung Guitar showcased his popular arrangements, and his classical performances appeared on the 1986 compilations Guitar Masters Volumes I and II. On his 2002 CD Songs of the Guitar, John has interwoven classical pieces with his song arrangements for a program that recreates the experience of his concerts. John’s arrangement of “Ashokan Farewell,” the theme from Ken Burns’ Civil War series, has been published by Mel Bay Publications.
John was a staff instructor at New York’s American Institute of Guitar from 1982 until its closing in 2008, and he continues to teach privately. He has also written extensively on music and the guitar for The New York Times, Family Life, Acoustic Guitar, and several other magazines, and has provided liner notes for recordings including the 2002 Deutsche Grammophon Segovia Collection boxed set.