Douglas Boyd is an acclaimed conductor and Artistic Director of Garsington Opera. He has previously held prominent positions, including Music Director of L’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Chief Conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur, Music Director of Manchester Camerata, Principal Guest Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Partner of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia. In recognition of his contributions to music, he was awarded the prestigious Grand Vermeil Médaille de la Ville de Paris during his tenure with L’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.
Originally an oboist and a founding member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Douglas’s musical approach has been deeply influenced by his formative training under Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
In the UK, Douglas has conducted all the BBC orchestras, the Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Internationally, he has worked with orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic, Basel Sinfonieorchester, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Munich Chamber Orchestra, and Kammerakademie Potsdam.
Further afield, he has conducted the Nagoya Symphony Orchestra in Japan, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and numerous Australian orchestras, including a complete Beethoven Symphony cycle with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven Piano Concertos with Paul Lewis. He has also appeared with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In North America, Douglas has worked with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra and symphony orchestras in Baltimore, Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Seattle, Utah, and Virginia, among others. In Canada, he has conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.
Douglas enjoys close collaborations with leading soloists, including Jonathan Biss, Steven Isserlis, Viktoria Mullova, Fazıl Say, András Schiff, Mark Padmore, Emmanuel Pahud, and Alisa Weilerstein.
His operatic engagements have included Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne Opera on Tour, La clemenza di Tito with Opera North, and The Rape of Lucretia with Potsdam Winteroper. At Garsington Opera, he has conducted productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Eugene Onegin, Capriccio, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the world premieres of Roxanna Panufnik’s Silver Birch and Dahlia. He has also led concert performances of Fidelio, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Haydn’s The Creation with Ballet Rambert. His production of Rusalka at Garsington was also presented at the Edinburgh International Festival.
As Artistic Director of Garsington Opera, Douglas has elevated the company to international acclaim, securing the Philharmonia Orchestra and The English Concert as resident orchestras and forging partnerships with Santa Fe Opera and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His leadership has been instrumental in shaping Garsington into a world-class festival, reflected in its nomination at the 2019 International Opera Awards.
Douglas’s recording debut as director/soloist was with the Bach Concerti for Deutsche Grammophon. His discography includes critically acclaimed recordings of the complete Beethoven Symphonies and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Manchester Camerata (Avie), Schubert Symphonies with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, and several recordings with Musikkollegium Winterthur. With L’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, he has recorded Intuition with Gautier Capuçon (Erato) and a disc of Haydn Symphonies released in 2021.
Highlights of his recent and upcoming engagements include performances with the Aalborg Symfoniorkester, Auckland Philharmonia, Adelaide and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Gävle Symfoniorkester, and L’Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine.
