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Joshua Heygen (aka Joshua Henryck van Heygen) was born in the Hague in Holland in 1931. His father gave him his own gut-strung guitar at 5 years old and he started to play and took lessons with Louisa Cohen and Koos Tigges giving his first small concert at the age of 8.
He emigrated to Australia after the war, using his guitar playing to make additional money by playing in clubs, cafes and events. He was approached by Australian Broadcasting to appear on television. He started appearing every day on television after the news in a program called 'Interlude with Joshua Heygen'. This was commemorated with a recording made by Phillips called 'Joshua Heygen and his Wandering Guitar' (1960).
He returned to Europe in 1960, furthering his guitar study with Quentin Esquembre. In 1963, he came to Britain and appeared on the Tonight Program, as well a regional TV in Ireland and Norfolk.
In 1970, he wrote the first 'Learn as you play' book for Boosey and Hawkes laying out his teaching method which was designed to help students study an instrument away from a teacher. He also pursued his interest in boats, owning Wanderer III which was sailed around the world by the Hiscock family.
He self-published his work from the 1980s onward and composed many pieces of guitar music until his death in January 2017.
