A tireless experimenter, well-versed in multiple traditions, mercurial violinist John Garner is one of the most exciting and unusual voices to emerge in recent years, combining immaculate technique with a fearless musicality and free-wheeling improvisational aesthetic. 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), 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, guitarist John Williams, 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 and a regular workshop leader. Together with violinist Marie Schreer, John is the director of record label and podcast Turquoise Coconut. He is currently a student of shakuhachi grandmaster Cornelius Shinzen Boots, and a postgraduate research student at Newcastle University, where he is the recipient of the Clara Whittaker Music PhD Scholarship.

[Photography by Ruth Garner]