About the Mandolinquents
Simon Mayor – mandolin, violin, guitar, vocals
Simon’s live performances are a riot of humorous anecdotes, off-the-cuff wit and dazzling musicianship. With his debut album he realised a longstanding intention to give the mandolin a uniquely British voice. A mix of original, traditional and classical pieces brought widespread recognition with a BBC Radio 2 Album of the Week, entry into the Classic FM Artist Top Ten and an honorary directorship of The Classical Mandolin Society of America to follow. He now has an extensive catalogue of recordings and books and hosts regular mandolin workshops in the UK and North America. Aside from the mandolin, he played swing fiddle on the album Five Guys Name Mo and had a song featured on The Simpsons (USA TV). But his fondest memory is a trip through the square window on the iconic BBC TV series Playschool!
“One of the world’s great mandolinists” (BBC Radio 3)
Simon has a Website 
Hilary James – voice, mandobass, guitar
Hilary James is best known for her “elegant singing”. She has recorded six critically acclaimed solo albums, including collections of Scottish, English and Irish folksongs, traditional blues and forays into French chansons, Berlioz and Irving Berlin. Her music has featured everywhere from Classic FM and BBC Radio’s 1, 2, 3 and 4 to radio stations from Latvia to Los Angeles. She plays guitar, double bass and mandobass on anything from Vivaldi to an Irish jig and, like Simon, is an honorary director of The Classical Mandolin Society of America. With a postgraduate in primary education and a keen interest in music for children, she presented programmes for BBC Children’s TV and radio for six years in partnership with Simon Mayor. Together they have written over 60 songs and five albums specially for children.
Hilary is also a fine illustrator and art animator.
“One of Britain’s finest voices.” (BBC Radio 4)
Gerald Garcia – Classical guitar
From the Wigmore Hall to the Glastonbury Festival, Gerald enjoys an enviable international reputation both as a performer and teacher. He became one of the first western guitarists to visit China touring in a duo with John Williams and has played with such diverse talents as Paco Peña, Michel Legrand, Barbara Streisand, Larry Coryell and Wayne Shorter. He has recorded six solo albums for the Naxos label and is a keen supporter of younger musicians, conducting the National Youth Guitar Ensemble and mentoring many talented young players on trips to China and Germany. And he has the wackiest sense of humour!
“A characterful guitarist: his musical intelligence and perception are to be treasured in an age where bland fluency seems to carry off the major prizes.” (Classical Guitar)
Richard Collins – mandolin, banjo, guitar
Highly regarded as a mandolinist and guitarist, Richard is also a three-time UK banjo champion. He appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in a production of A Winter’s Tale, and in a recent West End production of Oklahoma. He has recorded a guitar-teaching DVD for Universal Records and featured on an album for EMI’s world music series. One of the hottest (and subtlest) 5-string banjo players around he has been dragged across the Atlantic for session work in Nashville. Apart from his consummate skill as a musician, Richard has reputedly the largest repertoire of self-deprecating banjo jokes in the world.
