Ivor Mairants was born in Rypin, Poland on July 18, 1908 and was known throughout the world by guitarists of all musical styles. After some 60 years as a guitar virtuoso, teacher, composer and UK’s leading seller of musical instruments, he devoted the last years of his life to composing and performing music for the guitar.

Ivor Mairants arrived with his family in the UK in 1913. He began playing the banjo at the age of 15 and became a performing artist at the age of 20. From the 1930s he was a leading banjoist and later a leading guitarist numerous of Britain’s leading dance bands, including those of Ambrose, Roy Fox, Lew Stone, Geraldo and Ted Heath.

In the 1960s and 1970s, his excellent guitar playing was commonly heard on television, radio, movie soundtracks, and on numerous recordings with the popular Mantovani Orchestra and with Manuel And His Music Of The Mountains. His recording of him of the “Adagio” from Joaquín Rodrigo’s “Concierto De Aranjuez” with Manuel sold over a million copies! His guitar quintet was regularly broadcast in the late 1950s on the British Broadcasting Company’s “Guitar Club” series.

Of particular importance to guitarists is that Ivor Mairants spent much of his time composing music and writing educational books for the guitar. His solo guitar books and technique books for all styles of guitar, from publishers both in the UK and the US, have experienced excellent sales success over the years!

In the 1950s Ivor founded his Central School Of Dance Music in London. All instruments were taught in this clever facility, but special attention was paid to the guitar. Several of his former students are today some of the best guitarists in Britain. In 1958, together with his wife Lily his, he opened The Ivor Mairants Music Center. This was Britain’s first professional guitar shop and was located in the heart of London’s West End.

For several years many of the world’s best guitars and guitar accessories were presented in Britain by Ivor in his shop. The Ivor Mairants Music Center ended up being a mecca for expert guitarists and amateur guitarists of all levels. Over the years, Ivor was often used as a specialist consultant to major instrument manufacturers and importers due to his unique musical understanding and skills.

From the 1930s onwards Ivor Mairants was also a respected columnist in numerous leading music magazines including Melody Maker, BMG and Classical Guitar. In 1980 his acclaimed biography “My Fifty Fretting Years” was published by Ashley Mark Publishing in the UK and in 1995 his splendid two-volume work “The Great Jazz Guitarists”, probably the most comprehensive collection of note-for-note jazz transcriptions. historical. guitar solos – was published by Music Maker Publications in Cambridge, UK

Ivor Mairants made a remarkable and distinct contribution to the guitar world in Britain. In the last 50 years there can be few British guitarists who have not benefited from this contribution. He belonged to The Worshipful Company Of Musicians, an old and respected British guild, and was also a free man from the City of London.

In 1997, The Worshipful Company Of Musicians launched a new annual guitar scholarship competition called “The Ivor Mairants Guitar Award”, which will continue to be a crucial part of the enormous historical legacy that this irreplaceable figure has left behind for future generations of guitarists. Ivor passed away on February 20, 1998.