16 May 2009 Fiona Tozer was born in Ormskirk, England in 1953, her childhood was spent moving between various places in Scotland, England, and Africa which didn't lend itself to a musical education, although music was a passion from an early age.

At age 14 she bought her first guitar and With a couple of friends, taught herself – or they taught each other – to play, sing and harmonise. She was greatly influenced by the lyric poetry and unusual guitar work of Joni Mitchell, and the harmonies of groups like Crosby, Stills & Nash.

By the time she left school, she had played solo and in a few “girl groups”, charity concerts and had even been on TV. She started composing original music and attended Cape Town university which broadened Fiona's musical horizons.

Fiona made her debut with a new folk/rock band, covering artists as diverse as Frank Zappa and Pentangle, as well as playing originals penned by her and other members of the band. Fiona started working as a computer programmer in Bulawayo but continuing to work the clubs and pubs both as a solo act and with various groups, and composing new songs.

In 1975, she set off to see the world with husband and guitar, and worked in London for a year, listening more than playing, soaking up the rich concert scene there, and playing the odd folk club gig.

The rest of the decade was spent in several Arabian countries, and she became a much loved feature of the folk club circuit in places like Doha, Muscat, Dubai and Sharjah, where she was able to work with excellent musicians from all over the world. She set up her first home studio in Muscat, and wrote and recorded a jingle for the local Radio Oman. She was featured in several radio shows in Qatar, playing both original songs and popular covers.

In 1980, Fiona settled in Pietermaritzburg, and spent a couple of years raising two young children, limiting her performing to the local folk club. In 1983 she moved to Durban where she has lived since.

The folk club in Durban had died out in the late seventies. Fiona co-founded the new Durban Folk Club in 1986, and has been an anchor member ever since. Through the folk club connections, Fiona met many of the local musicians, including Will Wallace and Dave Atkinson.

Together they formed the group, Odyssey (later renamed Bona Fide), earning fame for their tight three part harmonies. They featured at many local venues, folk clubs and the national festival circuit. Fiona continued to play as a solo act during this time, and to write songs both for solo and band performance, becoming a veteran of the Splashy Fen festival where her original work always proved popular.

The late eighties also saw the creation of Odyssey Productions, a partnership with band members created to explore their keen interest in the arrangement and recording of their original material.  Odyssey was later to form the core of bigger bands, like the Fiona Tozer Band and Alien.

Much time was spent in the recording studio set up in the basement of Fiona's  smallholding home in 91 and 92, culminating in the completion of an album titled  Odyssey by the band, and featuring eight of Fiona's original songs on the 12-track album. Released on cassette and not distributed commercially, the album sold well at gigs and festivals, and a couple of the tracks received airplay on East Coast Radio. Fiona continued to write new songs, and with a busy schedule of gigs and national festivals thrived on the feedback so important to a creative artist. Returning to the studio in 94 with an album of new material, and the help of many talented friends, she completed Neverland early in 96. This time released on CD, it was co-produced by Will Wallace and Fiona, and digitally mastered in England. Tracks from the album were placed on the playlist of East Coast Radio in Natal and Radio Algoa in Eastern Cape, and were also  featured on CBFM in Eastern Cape, KFM in Cape Town  and Radio Cani in the Transvaal. Fiona has promoted the album with features at the Maynardville festival in Cape Town, the Mannville festival in Port Elizabeth, and at the 96 Splashy Fen (which coincided with the release date). A combined concert tour with guitar virtuoso Steve Newman in Durban and coastal resorts was also included in the post release promotions.

May 1998 saw her back in the studio to record a new album. All of the songs on Light and Sound are new and many were inspired by events between the two albums, and are a reflection of her growth as a songwriter, and performer. This album was recorded at C&G Studios, produced by Will Wallace and Don Clarke, and features some of Durban’s most prominent musicians. Live performance remained an important part of Fiona’s musical ethos, and for several years she ran an enthusiastically supported monthly club bringing live music to her local community. During this time, she also started teaching guitar at several Highway area schools, and continued working part time as a computer programmer.

Although change is continual, there are periods that seem to mark a sudden new direction, and the new millennium was one of these. Fiona’s compositional style had not essentially changed up to this point, apart from the addition of bigger arrangements for various bands. She was becoming increasingly aware of the limitations of her knowledge, and becoming frustrated with relying on lyrics to give meaning to the music. In 2001, she started studying at the University of Natal, having a brief flirtation with jazz guitar performance before settling on classical composition as her major. In the course of her studies, she composed for orchestra and for a various small ensembles.

Her Triptych for Chamber Orchestra was performed by the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004. She completed her BA (Music) degree, graduating with distinction both in 2003, and for her BA (Honours) in 2004.  During this time, performing took something of a back seat as she experimented with new musical concepts. She did however continue to perform at a few festivals, as well as taking part in the folk show Those were the Days, which had several successful runs at various venues in Durban, in 2001 and 2002.

Fiona is currently studying for her masters degree in composition at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her new band, Quark, comprising Fiona on guitar and vocals, Anton Cawthorn-Blazeby on violin and Logan Byrne on double bass, is a project designed to combine new skills and ideas with the songwriting tradition, and to move her music forward to a new place. She continues to write new material all the time, and believes that the creative circle formed by artist and audience can best be served by getting on stage and presenting these new works, stretching herself all the time to "catch that perfect  harmony".

The biog above is from Fiona's website, visit www.fionatozer.com for more info.

Below is a slideshow and a video compilation of Fiona's performance at Splashy Fen 2009.