BOND

Bond (often typeset as bond in deference to the owners of the 007 trademark) is an Australian/British string quartet that specialises in classical crossover music. Bond has been described as the best-selling string quartet of all time, selling over 4 million records. Bond was formed following initial conversations between music producer Mike Batt and promoter Mel Bush, after Batt suggested to Bush that the two of them should put together a quartet consisting of "four beautiful, talented musicians". Some time later, Bush pushed ahead with the idea, recruiting producer Gareth Cousins to help choose the line up and define the band's sound. This resulted in an initial four recordings the band made, leading to Bond being signed by Decca. Three of those original recordings, "Duel", "The 1812" and "Dalalai", were the backbone of the first album, Born, with producer Magnus Fiennes providing additional tracks and Mike Batt adding a remix of "Victory", which became the first single. The quartet currently consists of Tania Davis (first violin, formerly viola, from Sydney, Australia), Eos Chater (second violin, from Cardiff, Wales), Elspeth Hanson (viola, from Upper Basildon, England) and Gay-Yee Westerhoff (cello, from Hull, England). Hanson replaced original band member Haylie Ecker (formerly first violin), who left in 2008 to have a child.