John McLeod

John McLeod (8 March 1934 – 24 March 2022) was a Scottish composer who wrote music in many media including film and television. Biography He was born in Aberdeen, but later settled in Edinburgh. He initially studied clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music with Jack Brymer, Reginald Kell, and Gervase de Peyer, but then switched to composition with Sir Lennox Berkeley. McLeod was Associate Composer of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 1980 to 1982 and the orchestra commissioned Out of the Silence, premiered in 2015. His works have also been performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has broadcast 12 of his major orchestral works, including the London premiere of The Sun Dances (2000) at the BBC Proms in 2014. The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland has regularly featured his work in over 20 concerts, including the Piano Concerto (1988) in 2015, when it was conducted by the composer with James Willshire as soloist in Glasgow and Dundee. His Clarinet Concerto (2005) was premiered at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh on 13 May 2007 by the Meadows Chamber Orchestra with soloist Jean Johnson.