Liona Boyd

All Music Guide:

You can think of Liona Boyd as the woman who surreptitiously dated Pierre Elliott Trudeau while he was Canadian prime minister. Or the musician requested by Judge Lance Ito to entertain restless O.J. Simpson trial jurors. If you listen to her play, you can just as easily consider her one of the best guitarists in the world. After coming to Canada from her native England at age six, Boyd asked her parents for a guitar eight years later as a Christmas present. She took lessons from the legendary Julian Bream and Andres Segovia. She graduated with honors from the University of Toronto and won first prize in the Canadian National Music Competition. After studying privately in Paris for two years, Boyd returned to North America and recorded her first album in 1974. The Guitar, including works by J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, and Isaac Albeniz was greeted warmly by critics and her debut at the Carnegie Recital Hall garnered rave reviews. Two years later, Liona offered more classical guitar, including 12 previously unrecorded works for that instrument. She played four more pieces by Bach, one by Mussorgsky, and one by Boyd, illustrating compositional gifts that would later flower. She subsequently composed everything on Classically Yours, and it won a Juno at the Canadian music awards. She's won five Junos and her adopted country honored her with the Order of Canada, although she's lived in Los Angeles since 1991. Boyd could have been an Air Miles poster girl as she performed all over the world. Her fresh, strawberry blonde looks couldn't have stood in the way of several appearances on late-night American TV variety shows, but she earned acclaim with her artistry. Broadening beyond classical music, Boyd toured with Gordon Lightfoot and Tracy Chapman, as well as recording with Zamfir, Roger Whittaker, and Chet Atkins. Her dalliance with popular music culminated with the 1986 album Persona, which included collaborations with Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, as well as cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Other collaborators have included Liberace, Julio Iglesias, and Placido Domingo. Five times Guitar Player Magazine has named her the top classical guitarist. She's played private concerts for royalty, presidents, and prime ministers. In perhaps her oddest performance, Boyd strummed her strings for jurors deliberating Simpson's fate. She and her American husband, real estate developer John Simon, visited the courthouse under strict secrecy. Her 1998 autobiography In My Own Key: My Life in Love and Music includes details of her eight-year affair with Trudeau, who insisted they keep their relationship quiet, even sneaking her out of the Canadian prime minister's residence under a pile of coats on the floor of his car. One bumpy moment in their relationship came during a visit to Canada by Queen Elizabeth in 1977 when Boyd was exiled to the back of a banquet hall while the PM escorted ballerina Karen Kain. Besides her continuing love of music and an interest in painting, Boyd defends animal rights. In September 1998 she performed a benefit concert in California to raise money for the Last Chance for Animals group.

Wikipedia:

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.

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 Bream 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 Segovia, 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.

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 Segovia 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.

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:

Recording career

In 1974, Boyd released The Guitar, her first record. The recording was produced by Eleanor Sniderman, wife of Sam Sniderman, 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.

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 Persona, a mixture of Rock, New Age and Classical, with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and guitarists David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton.

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 Meola, 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.

2011

Liona is recording vocals in Toronto for a new CD.

Relationships

Boyd was married to John B. Simon from 1992 until 2004. Prior to the marriage she had important relationships with Pierre Trudeau and Joel Bell.

Lenin's piano

During a private WPO tour of the Kremlin in December 1991 Boyd played the first chords of Oh Canada on Lenin's piano.

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.

R D Laing

Boyd once played a private recital for R D Laing, the controversial Scottish psychiatrist.

O J Simpson jury

At Judge Lance Ito's request, Boyd performed a private concert for the sequestered jury during the O J Simpson trial.