James Boyd is widely recognised as one of Britain’s finest chamber musicians. He has been a member of some of the country’s foremost ensembles and is in demand as a guest artist with many others.
After studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School he became a member of the Raphael Ensemble and was a founder member of the Vellinger String Quartet, winners of the 1994 London International string quartet competition. In 2001 he formed the London Haydn Quartet which has been acclaimed for its highly individual stylistic approach, using gut strings and classical bows, making a particular speciality of the works of Haydn and Beethoven. Their recordings of Haydn’s op.9, op.17 and op.20 quartets have been released on Hyperion to much critical acclaim. The op.33 set will be released in June 2013. The quartet have played major venues in Europe and North America, including the Wigmore and Carnegie Halls and often collaborate with the classical clarinettist, Eric Hoeprich.
James appears as a regular guest with many ensembles including the Nash Ensemble and Arcangelo and is invited to many international chamber music festivals including Lofoten, Kaposvar, Resonances, Korsholm.and Kempten. He also plays in the Ludwig String Trio with Peter Cropper and Paul Watkins and will record the complete Beethoven trios in 2013. Gramophone Magazine described his CD of the viola music of York Bowen, with the pianist Bengt Forsberg, as « a gem of a disc! »
In 2001 he co-founded MusicWorks, a chamber music course for young string players and pianists, from which many young chamber ensembles have emerged. He also teaches chamber music at University of Cambridge (IAS), Chamber Studio (at King’s Place), The Banff centre, and Domaine Forget (Quebec). James also writes occasional articles for the Strad magazine, is a passionate amateur recording producer and engineer, and designs and constructs high-end audio equipment with horns and valves.