Biography
Job Title: Senior Lecturer
Courses Taught: BA (Hons) Music (Jazz), BA (Hons) Music (Popular) & BA (Hons) Actor Musician
Specialisms: Violin, Composition, Jazz, Classical
Violinist, composer and producer John Garner has worked with a huge variety of artists across a broad spectrum of genres, including Chris Potter, The Last Skeptik, Sway Dasafo, John Williams (guitarist), Othon Mataragas, Stewart Copeland, AZEDIA and Joey Negro.
One of the most exciting and unusual voices to emerge in recent years, violinist John Garner combines immaculate technique with a fearless musicality and free-wheeling improvisational aesthetic, coloured by his experience across a panoply of stylistic traditions.
A graduate of the Royal College of Music and Guildhall School of Music & Drama, formally trained in classical, jazz and South Indian music, John defies categorisation and is continually seeking new avenues of expression. Having studied with renowned international artists including Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth, Dr. Rimma Sushanskaya, Chris Garrick, Daniel Rowland and Byron Wallen, John already boasts an impressive discography as bandleader and composer (EMANATA; The Future Ancients; The John Garner Quartet), chamber musician (Guastalla Quartet; Mainly Two; with John Pope and Simon Roth), supporting musician (Music Of Our Kind; Avartan; Kate Williams’ Four Plus Three), session musician (Sway Dasafo; AZEDIA; The Last Skeptik; Lucy Claire) and more. John has toured at home and internationally with artists and groups as diverse as Chris Potter, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Kate Williams’ Four Plus Three (Parliamentary Jazz Award 2020), Jim Rattigan’s Triplicity and Riot Ensemble. Passionate about education, he is a senior lecturer at Leeds Conservatoire, a Creative Learning tutor at Sage Gateshead, and a regular workshop leader in everything from improvisation and stylistics, to electronics and sampling. Together with violinist Marie Schreer, John is the director of record label and podcast Turquoise Coconut.
‘Fleet, melodically audacious...’ - John Fordham (The Guardian)
‘One of the most talented musicians I've ever had the pleasure of working with. He always makes me rethink the way I look at music.’ - The Last Skeptik
Links: John Garner's website | Turquoise Coconut website | Instagram | Youtube | Spotify
