Douglas Boyd

Douglas Boyd (oboe) Douglas Boyd was born in Glasgow. He studied with Janet Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he is now a professor, and with Maurice Bourgue in Paris. He was one of the founders of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has been, since its inception, its principal oboist.

Douglas Boyd now enjoys an international career and frequently appears as soloist with many distinguished orchestras and conductors. Recent engagements have included a tour of Switzerland as soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Ivan Fischer, performing the Mozart Oboe Concerto, a recital tour of the United States and concerto appearances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He also took part in performances of the Oboe Concerto by Bernd Alois Zimmermann with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Heinz Holliger in Berlin, Basel, Frankfurt and Cologne, further performances of the Zimmerman with the Orchestre National de Lyon and a European tour of Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Wind with Andras Schiff. He has also appeared as soloist on many occasions, all over the world, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Sir Roger Norrington and Paavo Berglund.

In 2001, highlights have included a Bach Concerti series with Manchester Camerata, performances of the Strauss Oboe Concerto with the London Mozart Players and his debut with the Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra. In May he took part in the Wigmore Hall's 100th Anniversary concert.

He is also a committed chamber musician, and regularly takes part in international festivals, which have included Berlin, Edinburgh and Salzburg.

For Deutsche Grammophon, Douglas Boyd has recorded a recital programme of works by Schumann with the pianist Maria Joao Pires, CDs of Bach and Vivaldi Concerti with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Ligeti Concerto for flute and oboe with the COE under Claudio Abbado; for Claves, he has recorded the Trio Sonatas of the revolutionary Baroque composer, Zelenka; and for ASV, the Mozart and Strauss Concerti under Paavo Berglund and a Baroque recital programme. Gramophone magazine rated his Bach and Strauss Concerti as the finest recorded versions of these works.

Boyd’s recording of the Bach Concerti for DG marked his recording debut as director/soloist. Since 1996, he has been developing a parallel conducting career. He has conducted the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on several occasions, and in 1998 replaced Sir Charles Mackerras in two Strauss concerts, one of which was broadcast live as part of BBC Radio 3,s "Sounding the Century" series. Since then invitations have followed from the Orchestre National de Lyon, the City of London Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata, Upsalla Chamber Orchestra in Sweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

Douglas Boyd has a particularly close association with Manchester Camerata, Manchester's resident chamber orchestra. He conducted a three programme series in 2000/1 and has now been appointed their Principal Conductor and Artistic Director.

In 2000, Boyd made his US conducting debut, with the Gardner Chamber Orchestra in Boston, the resident orchestra of the Isabella Gardner Museum. As a result of the success of this concert, Boyd has been appointed Co-Music Director of the orchestra.

Other highlights for 2001 have included a re-invitation to conduct the City of London Sinfonia, his conducting debut at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California and with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow.

In 2002, he will conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra again, on a Scottish tour, return to Boston with the Gardner Chamber Orchestra and tour with the City of London Sinfonia as well as conducting many concerts with Manchester Camerata.

He is also committed to working with students and regularly conducts the orchestra of the Guildhall School of Music and the orchestras of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He has also conducted, for the first time, the orchestras of the Royal College of Music and Royal Northern College of Music. Boyd has now been appointed Principal Conductor of the RNCM Sinfonia and will also be involved in chamber music coaching at the college, which means he will be spending more time than ever in Manchester.

Douglas Boyd is Global Music Network Artist which can be visited on the GMN web site: www.gmn.com