Born and educated in Aberdeen and resident in Edinburgh since 1970, John McLeod (1934-2022) studied composition at the Academy with Sir Lennox Berkeley, but later came under the influence of Polish composer Witold Lutosławski who became a mentor. He won many awards for his work including the Guinness Prize for British composers, a Fellowship from the Academy and the Gold Badge of the Ivors Academy. The award of the CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours in 2016 and an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Aberdeen in 2019 added to his growing reputation as one of this country’s leading composers.
McLeod’s brilliantly coloured orchestral, instrumental and vocal music was commissioned, performed and recorded by leading orchestras including the Philharmonia, Hallé, BBC SSO, RSNO, SCO and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, by major orchestras in Poland, Germany and the USA and by many international ensembles and soloists. Most of his music was also heard on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, BBC TV and Channel 4 and also includes several highly successful film scores including Michael Radford’s award winning Another Time, Another Place from the novel of the same name by Jessie Kesson.