Liona Boyd
Encyclopedia
Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd, LLD
, D.Mus, CM
, O.Ont
, is a Canadian classical guitarist, composer, songwriter and singer. Boyd was born in London, England on July 11, 1949, moved to Canada with her parents when she was eight years old and became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1975. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
When she was 8 years old Liona emigrated to Canada from England with her family. She performed her first concert in a talent show on the ocean liner during the voyage. She played the "The Blue Bells of Scotland" on a treble recorder.
Boyd received her first guitar as a Christmas present when she was 13.
perform in the auditorium on the 7th floor of the Eaton's building at the intersection of Yonge and College in Toronto. Boyd vowed to master the guitar after watching Bream's performance. Bream "changed my life when I was 14", Boyd wrote in her autobiography.
, as well as with Eli Kassner
, Narciso Yepes
, Alirio Díaz
and Julian Bream
.
In 1972 Boyd graduated with honours from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Performance. The same year she won the Canadian National Music Competition, held in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. In 1972 Boyd toured England with British guitarist John Mills
.
From 1972–1974, she studied privately in Paris with Alexandre Lagoya
, the renowned French classical guitarist.
In 1973, while studying with Lagoya, she busked on the streets of Nice for extra money. She also performed recitals in Belgium and Holland during this period. In Paris she performed at the Canadian Cultural Center and the American Cathedral.
Boyd has honorary doctorates from the University of Lethbridge, University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University, Brock University and the University of Victoria.
She has won the Juno Award for Instrumental Artist of the Year five times.
wrote a prescient message on a card and passed it to Boyd: "Through your beauty and talent you will conquer the public, philharmonic or not."
Since her New York debut, Liona Boyd has performed thousands of concerts in dozens of countries around the world. She has performed in all the major North American cities, as well as concert halls in London, Paris, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Munich, Santiago, Rio, São Paulo, Bogotá, Havana, Lisbon, Mexico City, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok, New Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, Kathmandu, Singapore, Cairo, Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Athens, San Jose, San Salvador, and Santiago.
In the summer of 1975 Boyd opened for Gordon Lightfoot at major summer festivals the United States. In 1976 and 1977 she toured North America with Lightfoot, creating a new audience for classical guitar. In between Lightfoot tours Boyd continued to play smaller recitals.
In late November 1975 Boyd undertook a six week classical tour of northern British Columbia and the Yukon performing in high schools, churches, and hotel dining rooms. "Tradition has it that folk and pop artists pay their dues playing to rough crowds in smoky bars; I was paying mine in all the remote, snowbound communities of northwest Canada", wrote Boyd in her autobiography.
In the mid-1970s Boyd played many recitals at guitar societies across North America.
In 1977 Boyd performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Canada.
She has performed for many political leaders including Pierre Trudeau
, Ronald Reagan
, Margaret Thatcher
, François Mitterrand
, Zenko Suzuki
, Giovanni Spadolini
, Queen Sophia
and King Juan Carlos of Spain, Fidel Castro
, Helmut Schmidt
, Sir Michael Manley
, James Callaghan
, Jose Lopez Portillo
, Edén Pastora
, Óscar Arias
, Prince Bandar, Saud bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz
, and Chun Doo Hwan.
In January 1977 Boyd performed in Chile, Brazil and Colombia South Americaas part of a Canadian "anti-nuclear-proliferation" tour organized by the Canadian government to caution responsible use of nuclear technology following the sale of CANDU reactors to South America.
In 1978 Boyd toured New Zealand. "New Zealand was the worst tour of my career" endless cold motels; greasy, overcooked food, and a wearing schedule of press interview, TV shows, and concerts", she wrote in her autobiography. When she returned to Toronto after the six week New Zealand tour the cheque given to her by the promoter bounced.
Boyd toured Japan in 1980, playing solo and orchestral concerts.
She performed for G7 world leaders at the Twentieth Economic Summit Conference in July 1981 at the Chateau Montebello in Quebec.
In April 1982, Boyd performed the opening concert at the International Guitar Festival in Havana, Cuba.
She performed in Ottawa for the NATO Ministers of Defence in 1983.
In 1988 Boyd embarked on a 32-city cross-Canada tour.
She toured Europe with Tracy Chapman
in November and December 1989 and performed in Frankfurt and Munich the week the Berlin Wall came down.
Boyd played a concert on Adnan Khashoggi
's yacht Nabila, the day it was christened.
, owner of Canada's Sam the Record Man stores. The Guitar was released in Canada on Boot Records, a label started by Stompin' Tom Connors
, a country singer-songwriter from Prince Edward Island. Boyd also released The Guitar Artistry of Liona Boyd and Miniatures for Guitar in Canada on Boot Records
in the 1970s.
The Guitar and The Guitar Artistry of Liona Boyd were distributed in the United States and England by London Records. London released the "The Guitar" with the title of "Classical Guitar."
In 1976 Boyd joined SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) and established Mid-Continental Music, her publishing company.
Liona Boyd has recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra; as well as with Chet Atkins
, Yo Yo Ma, Gheorghe Zamfir
, The Canadian Brass, Frank Mills
, Roger Whittaker
, André Gagnon
and Strunz & Farah
, the Toronto Children's Chorus and the Orpheus Choir.
In 1986 she recorded Persona with rock guitarists David Gilmour
and Eric Clapton
. The project was produced by Michael Kamen
.
In 1995 she recorded several of the themes in the music by Maurice Jarre
to A Walk in the Clouds
. The music won the Golden Globe for best score.
She released Camino Latino/ Latin Journey in 2002, a record that features guest performances by Strunz and Farah, Al di Meola
, Steve Morse
, Jesse Cook
, Johannes Linstead, Pavlo, Innis and Luis Villegas.
In 2009 she released Liona Boyd Sings Songs of Love with Srdjan Givoje and Seven Journeys: Music for the Soul and Imagination with Peter Bond.
In 1979 Liona Boyd won the Juno award for Instrumental Artist of the Year.
In 1982, 1983, and 1984 Boyd won Juno awards for Instrumental Artist of the Year.
In 1986, Boyd recorded the breakthrough album
Persona, a mixture of Rock
, New Age
and Classical, with cellist
Yo-Yo Ma
and guitarists David Gilmour
of Pink Floyd
and Eric Clapton
.
In 1996 Liona Boyd won the Juno award for Instrumental Artist of the Year.
, Jesse Cooke, Steve Morse
, Luis Villegas
, Pavlo, Johannes Linstead
, Ron Korb
, and Strunz and Farah.
Following a diagnosis of focal dystonia
after the release of Camino Latino, Boyd was compelled to change the way she plays guitar. She reinvented herself by developing her songwriting and singing skills and playing less demanding guitar arrangements.
Liona Boyd released two records in 2009. Liona Boyd Sings Songs of Love, seventeen duets with Srdjan Givoje, was released in September. Seven Journeys: Music for the Soul and Imagination, a collaboration with Peter Bond, was released in November.
and Joel Bell.
On New Year's Eve she played Granada by Agustín Lara
at a gala. Boyd was the only non-Russian invited by Gavril Popov, the mayor of Moscow, to perform at this event.
's request, Boyd performed a private concert for the sequestered jury during the O J Simpson trial.
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
, D.Mus, CM
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, O.Ont
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
, is a Canadian classical guitarist, composer, songwriter and singer. Boyd was born in London, England on July 11, 1949, moved to Canada with her parents when she was eight years old and became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1975. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
Family
Boyd's father grew up in Bilbao, Spain and her mother grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Her grandmother was from Linares, Spain, where the classical guitarist Andrés Segovia was born.When she was 8 years old Liona emigrated to Canada from England with her family. She performed her first concert in a talent show on the ocean liner during the voyage. She played the "The Blue Bells of Scotland" on a treble recorder.
Boyd received her first guitar as a Christmas present when she was 13.
Turning point
In 1963 Boyd saw the English guitarist Julian BreamJulian Bream
Julian Bream, CBE is an English classical guitarist and lutenist and is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century. He has also been successful in renewing popular interest in the Renaissance lute....
perform in the auditorium on the 7th floor of the Eaton's building at the intersection of Yonge and College in Toronto. Boyd vowed to master the guitar after watching Bream's performance. Bream "changed my life when I was 14", Boyd wrote in her autobiography.
Education
As a teenager Boyd took private lessons with Andrés SegoviaAndrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
, as well as with Eli Kassner
Eli Kassner
Eli Kassner is a Canadian guitar teacher and musician.Eli Kassner studied guitar in Vienna and Israel prior to moving to Canada in 1951. He performed until 1967....
, Narciso Yepes
Narciso Yepes
Narciso Yepes was a Spanish guitarist.-Biography:Yepes was born into a family of humble origin in Lorca, Region of Murcia. His father gave him his first guitar when he was four years old. He took his first lessons from Jesus Guevara, in Lorca...
, Alirio Díaz
Alirio Diaz
Alirio Díaz is a Venezuelan classical guitarist.The eighth of eleven children, Díaz was born in Caserio La Candelaria, a small village near Carora in western Venezuela. From childhood he showed a great interest in music. At age 16 he ran away from home to Carora, where he sought better schooling...
and Julian Bream
Julian Bream
Julian Bream, CBE is an English classical guitarist and lutenist and is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century. He has also been successful in renewing popular interest in the Renaissance lute....
.
In 1972 Boyd graduated with honours from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Performance. The same year she won the Canadian National Music Competition, held in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. In 1972 Boyd toured England with British guitarist John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
.
From 1972–1974, she studied privately in Paris with Alexandre Lagoya
Alexandre Lagoya
Alexandre Lagoya was a classical guitarist. His early career included boxing and guitar, and as he cites on the sleeve of his 1981 Columbia album, his parents hoped he would outgrow his predilection for both....
, the renowned French classical guitarist.
In 1973, while studying with Lagoya, she busked on the streets of Nice for extra money. She also performed recitals in Belgium and Holland during this period. In Paris she performed at the Canadian Cultural Center and the American Cathedral.
Boyd has honorary doctorates from the University of Lethbridge, University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University, Brock University and the University of Victoria.
She has won the Juno Award for Instrumental Artist of the Year five times.
First Lady of the Guitar
Boyd appeared on the cover of The Canadian magazine in 1975. In the story she was referred to as "The First Lady of the Guitar", a sobriquet that she has been identified with ever since. In 1978 Boyd released a record entitled The First Lady of the Guitar.Publication of autobiography
In 1988, Stoddard Publishing of Toronto, Canada published Boyd's autobiography In My Own Key: My Life in Love and Music.Performing career
In 1975, after her New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall, Andrés SegoviaAndrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
wrote a prescient message on a card and passed it to Boyd: "Through your beauty and talent you will conquer the public, philharmonic or not."
Since her New York debut, Liona Boyd has performed thousands of concerts in dozens of countries around the world. She has performed in all the major North American cities, as well as concert halls in London, Paris, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Munich, Santiago, Rio, São Paulo, Bogotá, Havana, Lisbon, Mexico City, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok, New Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, Kathmandu, Singapore, Cairo, Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Athens, San Jose, San Salvador, and Santiago.
In the summer of 1975 Boyd opened for Gordon Lightfoot at major summer festivals the United States. In 1976 and 1977 she toured North America with Lightfoot, creating a new audience for classical guitar. In between Lightfoot tours Boyd continued to play smaller recitals.
In late November 1975 Boyd undertook a six week classical tour of northern British Columbia and the Yukon performing in high schools, churches, and hotel dining rooms. "Tradition has it that folk and pop artists pay their dues playing to rough crowds in smoky bars; I was paying mine in all the remote, snowbound communities of northwest Canada", wrote Boyd in her autobiography.
In the mid-1970s Boyd played many recitals at guitar societies across North America.
In 1977 Boyd performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Canada.
She has performed for many political leaders including Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, Zenko Suzuki
Zenko Suzuki
was a Japanese politician and the 70th Prime Minister of Japan from July 17, 1980 to November 27, 1982.Suzuki graduated from Tokyo University of Fisheries in 1935...
, Giovanni Spadolini
Giovanni Spadolini
Giovanni Spadolini was a liberal Italian politician, the 45th Prime Minister of Italy, newspaper editor, journalist and a noted historian.-Biography:Spadolini was born in Florence....
, Queen Sophia
Queen Sofía of Spain
Queen Sofía of Spain is the wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.-Early life and family:Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born in Psychiko, Athens, Greece on 2 November 1938, the eldest child of the King Paul of Greece and his wife, Queen Frederika , a former princess of Hanover...
and King Juan Carlos of Spain, Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
, Sir Michael Manley
Michael Manley
Michael Norman Manley ON OCC was the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica . Manley was a democratic socialist....
, James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
, Jose Lopez Portillo
José López Portillo
José López Portillo y Pacheco was the President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982.Born in Mexico City, López Portillo studied Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico before beginning his political career with the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1959.He held several positions in the...
, Edén Pastora
Edén Pastora
Edén Atanacio Pastora Gómez is a Nicaraguan politician and former guerrilla who ran for president as the candidate of the Alternative for Change party in the 2006 general elections...
, Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias
Óscar Arias Sánchez is a Costa Rican politician who was President of Costa Rica from 2006 to 2010. He previously served as President from 1986 to 1990 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars then raging in several other Central American countries.He is also a...
, Prince Bandar, Saud bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz
Saud bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz
Saud bin Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud , also known as Saud Al Faisal, has been the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia since 1975. He is the world's longest-serving Foreign Minister....
, and Chun Doo Hwan.
In January 1977 Boyd performed in Chile, Brazil and Colombia South Americaas part of a Canadian "anti-nuclear-proliferation" tour organized by the Canadian government to caution responsible use of nuclear technology following the sale of CANDU reactors to South America.
In 1978 Boyd toured New Zealand. "New Zealand was the worst tour of my career" endless cold motels; greasy, overcooked food, and a wearing schedule of press interview, TV shows, and concerts", she wrote in her autobiography. When she returned to Toronto after the six week New Zealand tour the cheque given to her by the promoter bounced.
Boyd toured Japan in 1980, playing solo and orchestral concerts.
She performed for G7 world leaders at the Twentieth Economic Summit Conference in July 1981 at the Chateau Montebello in Quebec.
In April 1982, Boyd performed the opening concert at the International Guitar Festival in Havana, Cuba.
She performed in Ottawa for the NATO Ministers of Defence in 1983.
In 1988 Boyd embarked on a 32-city cross-Canada tour.
She toured Europe with Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
in November and December 1989 and performed in Frankfurt and Munich the week the Berlin Wall came down.
Boyd played a concert on Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi is a Saudi Arabian arms-dealer and businessman. He is also noted for his engagements with high society in both the Occident and Arabic-speaking worlds, and for his involvement in the Iran–Contra and Lockheed bribery scandals, and numerous other affairs...
's yacht Nabila, the day it was christened.
Charitable performances
An essential part of Liona Boyd's personal philosophy is giving her time to a variety of charitable causes. Past charitable performances include:- World Wildlife Fund
- American Cancer Society
- Help the Aged
- Variety and Leukemia Telethons (USA & Canada)
- The Weizmann Institute
- Mother Teresa's Hospice (Calcutta)
- Dixon Hall (Toronto's school for underprivileged children)
- Heart Institute (Vancouver)
- Israel Cancer Research Fund (Los Angeles)
- Para Los Niños (Mexico)
- Malibu Disaster Relief Fund
- Duke of Edinburgh Awards (Glasgow and Leeds)
- Friends of Sheba Medical Center
- Children's Environmental Health Fund
- Canadian Archeological Institute (Athens, Greece)
- Animal Protection League
- Walk on Water/Shake a Leg
Recording career
In 1974, Boyd released The Guitar, her first record. The recording was produced by Eleanor Sniderman, wife of Sam SnidermanSam Sniderman
Sam Sniderman, is a Canadian entrepreneur best known as the founder of Sam the Record Man, the Canadian record store chain...
, owner of Canada's Sam the Record Man stores. The Guitar was released in Canada on Boot Records, a label started by Stompin' Tom Connors
Stompin' Tom Connors
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singers.He lives in Wellington County, Ontario.- Early life :...
, a country singer-songwriter from Prince Edward Island. Boyd also released The Guitar Artistry of Liona Boyd and Miniatures for Guitar in Canada on Boot Records
Boot Records
Boot Records Ltd. was a Canadian country, bluegrass and contemporary folk label formed in 1971 in Toronto by Stompin' Tom Connors and his manager Jury Krytiuk.-Early years:...
in the 1970s.
The Guitar and The Guitar Artistry of Liona Boyd were distributed in the United States and England by London Records. London released the "The Guitar" with the title of "Classical Guitar."
In 1976 Boyd joined SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) and established Mid-Continental Music, her publishing company.
Liona Boyd has recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra; as well as with Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, Yo Yo Ma, Gheorghe Zamfir
Gheorghe Zamfir
Gheorghe Zamfir is a Romanian pan flute musician.Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of the traditional Romanian-style pan flute of 20 pipes to 22, 25, 28 and 30 pipes to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight overtones from each pipe by changing the embouchure.He is...
, The Canadian Brass, Frank Mills
Frank Mills
Frank Mills , is a Canadian pianist and recording artist, best known for his solo instrumental hit "Music Box Dancer"....
, Roger Whittaker
Roger Whittaker
Roger Whittaker is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability...
, André Gagnon
André Gagnon
André Gagnon, OC is a Canadian musician and composer. He shifted from a classical musical style to an adult contemporary style in the mid-1970s with albums such as Neiges....
and Strunz & Farah
Strunz & Farah
Strunz & Farah is a guitar duo with an eclectic sound that have been described as a cross between world fusion and flamenco.-History:Jorge Strunz, born in Costa Rica, and Ardeshir Farah, hailing from Iran, met in the United States in 1979. Jorge Strunz was one of the founders of the Latin jazz...
, the Toronto Children's Chorus and the Orpheus Choir.
In 1986 she recorded Persona with rock guitarists David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
and Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
. The project was produced by Michael Kamen
Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
.
In 1995 she recorded several of the themes in the music by Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor.Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia...
to A Walk in the Clouds
A Walk in the Clouds
A Walk in the Clouds is a 1995 American romantic drama film directed by Alfonso Arau. The screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, Mark Miller, and Harvey Weitzman is based on the 1942 Italian film Four Steps in the Clouds by Piero Tellini, Cesare Zavattini, and Vittorio de Benedetti.-Plot:Shortly after...
. The music won the Golden Globe for best score.
She released Camino Latino/ Latin Journey in 2002, a record that features guest performances by Strunz and Farah, Al di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
, Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
, Jesse Cook
Jesse Cook
Jesse Cook is a Toronto-based guitarist, born in Paris to Canadian parents. Like other guitarists of his style of music, he incorporates funky jazz, latin & world music into his playing. Cook is also well known for the energy of his live shows. He has contributed to the Afro Celt Sound System album...
, Johannes Linstead, Pavlo, Innis and Luis Villegas.
In 2009 she released Liona Boyd Sings Songs of Love with Srdjan Givoje and Seven Journeys: Music for the Soul and Imagination with Peter Bond.
1970–1979
Liona Boyd released six records between 1974 and 1979: The Guitar/Classical Guitar (1974), The Guitar Artistry of Liona Boyd (1975), Miniatures for Guitar (1977), The First Lady of the Guitar (1978), The First Nashville Guitar Quartet (1979) and Liona Boyd with Andrew Davis and the English Chamber Orchestra (1979).In 1979 Liona Boyd won the Juno award for Instrumental Artist of the Year.
1980–1989
Boyd released six records between 1980 and 1989: Spanish Fantasy (1980), A Guitar for Christmas (1981), The Best of Liona Boyd (1982), Virtuoso (1983), Liona Live in Tokyo (1984), The Romantic Guitar of Liona Boyd (1985), Persona (1986), Encore (1988), Christmas Dreams (1989) and Highlights (1989).In 1982, 1983, and 1984 Boyd won Juno awards for Instrumental Artist of the Year.
In 1986, Boyd recorded the breakthrough album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Persona, a mixture of Rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
and Classical, with cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
and guitarists David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
.
1990–1999
Boyd released four records between 1990 and 1999: Paddle to the Sea (1990), Dancing on the Edge (1991), Classically Yours (1995) and Whispers of Love (1999).In 1996 Liona Boyd won the Juno award for Instrumental Artist of the Year.
2000–2009
In 2002 Boyd released Camino Latino, an album of original compositions in the nuevo-Latino style. The record features guest artists Al Di MeolaAl Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
, Jesse Cooke, Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
, Luis Villegas
Luis Villegas
Luis Villegas is a Mexican American guitarist best known for his debut CD Cafe Olé which mixed New Age music, flamenco, and jazz and garnered a spot on the Grammy ballot for Best New Age album of the Year in 1999. He is known for popularizing an unusual technique of playing very fast intricate...
, Pavlo, Johannes Linstead
Johannes Linstead
Johannes Linstead is an award-winning Canadian guitarist and instrumentalist that fuses virtuoso Spanish-style guitar with Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern, and Latin American percussion and instrumentation...
, Ron Korb
Ron Korb
Ron Korb is a Canadian flautist, composer, songwriter, and record producer, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is also known as Dragon Flute in China, Thunder Blessing in Taiwan and Prince of Flutes in Japan-Musical style:Korb is known for writing culturally diverse...
, and Strunz and Farah.
Following a diagnosis of focal dystonia
Focal dystonia
Focal dystonia is a neurological condition that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a part of the body and causes an involuntary muscular contraction or twisting...
after the release of Camino Latino, Boyd was compelled to change the way she plays guitar. She reinvented herself by developing her songwriting and singing skills and playing less demanding guitar arrangements.
Liona Boyd released two records in 2009. Liona Boyd Sings Songs of Love, seventeen duets with Srdjan Givoje, was released in September. Seven Journeys: Music for the Soul and Imagination, a collaboration with Peter Bond, was released in November.
Relationships
Boyd was married to John B. Simon from 1992 until 2004. Prior to the marriage she had important relationships with Pierre TrudeauPierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
and Joel Bell.
Lenin's piano
During a private WPO tour of the Kremlin in December 1991 Boyd played the first chords of O’Canada on Lenin's piano.On New Year's Eve she played Granada by Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. Later, the Lara family had to move again to Mexico City, establishing their house in the borough of Coyoacán. After Lara's mother died, Agustín and his siblings lived in a hospice run by their...
at a gala. Boyd was the only non-Russian invited by Gavril Popov, the mayor of Moscow, to perform at this event.
R D Laing
Boyd once played a private recital for R D Laing, the controversial Scottish psychiatrist.O J Simpson jury
At Judge Lance ItoLance Ito
Lance Allan Ito is an American Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, best known for his presiding decision during the O. J. Simpson murder trial. He currently hears felony criminal cases at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.-Early life and career:Ito was born to Jim and Toshi Ito...
's request, Boyd performed a private concert for the sequestered jury during the O J Simpson trial.
Discography
| Title | Label | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Guitar/Classical Guitar | Boot/London | 1974 |
| The Guitar Artistry of Liona Boyd | Boot/London | 1975 |
| Miniatures for Guitar | Boot/CBS Masterworks | 1977 |
| The First Lady of the Guitar | Columbia | 1978 |
| The First Nashville Guitar Quartet | RCA | 1979 |
| Liona Boyd with Andrew Davis and the English Chamber Orchestra | CBS Masterworks | 1979 |
| Spanish Fantasy | CBS Masterworks | 1980 |
| A Guitar for Christmas | CBS Masterworks | 1981 |
| The Best of Liona Boyd | CBS Masterworks | 1982 |
| Virtuoso | CBS Masterworks | 1983 |
| Liona Live in Tokyo | CBS Masterworks | 1984 |
| The Romantic Guitar of Liona Boyd | CBS Masterworks | 1985 |
| Persona | CBS Masterworks | 1986 |
| Encore | A & M | 1988 |
| Christmas Dreams | A & M | 1989 |
| Highlights | A & M | 1989 |
| Paddle to the Sea | Oak Street | 1990 |
| Dancing on the Edge | Moston | 1991 |
| Classically Yours | Moston | 1995 |
| Whispers of Love | Moston | 1999 |
| Camino Latino | Moston | 2002 |
| Liona Boyd Sings Songs of Love | Moston/Universal | 2009 |
| Seven Journeys: Music for the Soul and Imagination (Liona Boyd and Peter Bond) | Moston/Universal | 2009 |
External links
- Liona Boyd website
- Liona Boyd: Biography
- Liona Boyd: Singer (CBC interview with Canada's celebrated classical guitarist whose career is taking a sharp turn)
- Liona Boyd: five years of healing, two new albums, one rebirth
- Liona Boyd discusses live performance and her encounters with Lenny Breau in this interview from 1986 in Los Angeles
- Liona Boyd: The Canadian Encyclopedia of Music
- Order of Canada Citation