Douglas Boyd is currently Music Director of Manchester Camerata, Artistic Partner of Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota and Principal Guest Conductor of City of London Sinfonia. He begins a three year tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in the 2008-09 season and will be the Chief Conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur from 2009/10.
He was born in Glasgow and studied with Janet Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and with Maurice Bourgue in Paris. A founding member and Principal Oboist of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe until 2002, he now conducts them on a regular basis.
In 2000 Boyd made his US conducting debut with the Gardner Chamber Orchestra. In 2001 he conducted at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego and at the end of 2002 made his début with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota. Most recently he has conducted the Detroit, Dallas and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras and the National Arts Orchestra in Ottawa. His relationship with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra continues to develop and in May 2008 he takes them to New York for concerts at Zankel Hall.
In addition to his concerts with Manchester Camerata, City of London Sinfonia and St Paul Chamber Orchestra he has appeared with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre National de Lyon, National Youth Orchestra of Norway, the Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore, Seattle, Pacific, Colorado and Toronto Symphony Orchestras.
Future plans include concerts with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Nagoya Philharmonic, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich and the Toronto Symphony. In the 2008-09 season he will make his debut with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. In 2008 he will conduct Die Zauberflöte with Glyndebourne Opera on Tour, Fidelio at Garsington Opera in 2009 and Le nozze di Figaro, again for Garsington Opera, in 2010.
Boyd is also committed to working with students and has conducted the orchestras of the Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Oxford and Cambridge Universities on many occasions.
Boyd has recorded a recital 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. He has recorded the Trio Sonatas of Zelenka and the Mozart and Strauss Concerti under Paavo Berglund. Boyd’s recording of the Bach Concerti for DG marked his recording debut as director/soloist and his recordings as a conductor with Manchester Camerata (on Avie) received universal critical acclaim. He has recently recorded Schubert Symphonies with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra on their own label.