Liona Boyd - Performing Career

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, José López 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.