This performance will now take place on August 20 due to an excessive heat warning.
Boyd Meets Girl pairs Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd with American cellist Laura Metcalf. The duo performs an eclectic and engaging range of repertoire, from Bach to Beyoncé. Both acclaimed soloists in their own right, Boyd has been described as “truly evocative” by The Washington Post and as “a player who deserves to be heard” by Classical Guitar Magazine. Metcalf is also a member of the ensembles, Sybarite5, and Break of Reality; she has been called “brilliant” by Gramophone. Boyd Meets Girl has toured throughout the USA, India, Nepal, New Zealand, and every state and territory in Australia.
Bring a blanket, chairs, and a picnic.
Schedule
6 pm Gates open
6:30 pm Performance begins
Rain Date: August 22
Tickets
In person tickets | $20 per person
Seating is limited and we strongly advise attendees to purchase tickets in advance. Any available tickets sold at the gate will be by credit card only.
See all upcoming From the Porch events in our Calendar.
Boyd Meets Girl’s debut album, released on the Grammy award-winning label Sono Luminous, reached #3 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart, and received the following review in Gramophone: “They play like one, with a harmony of purpose as sure as their intonation.” The album has received over a million streams on Spotify, and has been broadcast on radio stations around the world, including New York’s WQXR and SiriusXM, and was selected as “Album of the Week” on California’s KDFC and Australia’s ABC Classic. Artistic directors of the acclaimed Sunday morning concert series GatherNYC, and a happily married couple, the duo lives in New York City with their son Milo.
Cellist Laura Metcalf, renowned worldwide as a passionate solo and chamber musician, has been acclaimed for her “brilliant” playing (Gramophone Magazine) and described as “a cellist whose passion for music is as evident as her artistry and talent” (I care if you listen). She has performed throughout the US and on six continents, including South Africa, Nepal, Argentina, Qatar, Mongolia, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and Australia. Laura’s debut solo album on the Grammy-winning label Sono Luminus, reached #7 on the Billboard Charts, and was called “a way forward for classical music” by AllMusic. As a sought-after chamber musician and collaborator, Laura is drawn to projects that push boundaries and expand the definition of classical chamber music. Laura is the cellist of groundbreaking string quintet Sybarite5, which was the first-ever string quintet to win the Concert Artists Guild competition, reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Charts, and has toured extensively for over a decade, performing in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Library of Congress, and countless other major venues. Boyd Meets Girl, her duo with her husband, classical guitarist Rupert Boyd, also tours extensively worldwide and has had their music streamed over a million times on Spotify alone. Laura also performs regularly with the popular cello-percussion quartet Break of Reality, selected for an ongoing world tour as musical ambassadors of the US State Department. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Laura became the founding cellist of The Overlook, a string quartet dedicated to amplifying music by Black composers. Laura is also a concert curator and artistic director, having founded the weekly Sunday morning concert series GatherNYC, as well as Music at MAD at the Museum of Arts and Design. She has appeared onstage with artists including Adele, John Legend, Cher, Shawn Mendes and Nas.
New York-based Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd has been described by The Washington Post as “truly evocative,” by Gramophone as “a very fine musician,” and by Classical Guitar Magazine as “a player who deserves to be heard.” His performances have taken him across four continents, from New York’s Carnegie Hall, to the Barcelona Guitar Festival in Spain, Strings-139 Festival in China, Festival de Musique Classique in France, Gharana Music Festival in Nepal, and every state and territory in Australia.
Rupert Boyd gave his Carnegie Hall debut as part of the D’Addario Music Foundation’s “International Competition Winners in Concert” Series, and has performed at the Newport Music Festival, National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.), Music in the Strathmore Mansion, Marlow Guitar Series, Grand Canyon Guitar Society, Boston Guitar Society, University of Denver, University of Hawaii, and has given concerts in the U.K., France, Spain, New Zealand, India, Nepal and the Philippines. In New York, Rupert Boyd has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City Classical Guitar Society, Merkin Concert Hall, Trinity Wall Street, Bargemusic, (Le) Poisson Rouge, SubCulture, and with a diversity of groups such as New York Festival of Song and Moving Theater Dance Company.
Rupert Boyd has released three solo recordings: The Guitar (Sono Luminus) was described by This Is Classical Guitar as “a must-have album of 2019”, and received the following praise in The Weekend Australian: “Instantly one’s ears are pricked up by Boyd’s interpretive directness and a sparkling technique”; Fantasías (Little Mystery Records) was selected by American Record Guide as “Critic’s Choice” of 2016, and was described by Classical Guitar Magazine as “a triumph of brilliant assured playing”; Boyd’s debut recording Valses Poéticos received the following review in Soundboard, the Guitar Foundation of America’s quarterly publication: “Boyd’s playing is beautifully refined, with gorgeous tone… musically and technically flawless… the album is first-rate.” Soundboard also described the eponymous work by Granados as “one of the best recorded performances of this work on guitar.”
Active as both a soloist and chamber musician, Rupert Boyd regularly performs throughout the world as part of the Australian Guitar Duo with guitarist Jacob Cordover, and in Boyd Meets Girl, with cellist Laura Metcalf. The Australian Guitar Duo was a prizewinner of the Chamber Music section of the Australian Guitar Competition, and its debut CD Songs from the Forest was described as “wonderfully entertaining” by Classical Guitar Magazine, and “very impressive” by Soundboard Magazine. Boyd Meets Girl’s debut album, released in 2017 on the Sono Luminus label, reached #3 on the Billboard Traditional Classical charts, and received the following review in Gramophone Magazine: “they play like one, with a harmony of purpose as sure as their intonation.”
Rupert Boyd holds a Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours) from the Australian National University School of Music, a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and an Artist Diploma from the Yale University School of Music. His major teachers have been Timothy Kain, David Leisner and Benjamin Verdery. In addition to winning the Andrés Segovia award from the Manhattan School of Music, Rupert Boyd was also a winner of the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition and winner of the Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition.
Rupert Boyd lives in New York City and exclusively plays D’Addario Strings.