John W. Duarte (1919 – 2004) was a composer for guitar and lute. He attended the Manchester University Faculty of Technology and worked as a chemist until when he abandoned his chemistry duties for a full-time music career. He began lessons in jazz-guitar and played with the likes of Terence Usher. He also worked as a jazz trumpet player and double bassist until 1953.

He composer of over 130 works for guitar and lute (many were commissioned with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain and other sources, official and private, both domestic and overseas). Most have been published—57 of which have been commercially recorded by 58 artists and/or ensembles in 24 countries. He was also an arranger for several recorded music and didactic works.

He also worked with ‘Gramophone, Music Teacher and Classical Guitar’ as an author interviewer and reviewer of books, music, concerts and recordings of many kinds (specializing in Baroque music). He received a GRAMMY Award for his annotation to the reissue of Segovia’s recordings of 1927–39.

In 1990 he received a Silver Medal from the Czech Ambassador in London, for his “services to Anglo-Czech and Slovak cultural relations”. At the Convention of the Guitar Foundation of America in October 1999 he received an Award for Lifetime Achievement.