Who's Who In Music

John Doig
Violinist
Born Helensburgh, Scotland
2nd August 1958

Regarded as one of the foremost British violinists of his generation, John Doig is a renowned concertmaster.

He retired from performing at the age of forty-three due to developing Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease. His world premiere recording of the Stravinsky arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Entr’acte from The Sleeping Beauty (CD DCA719 ASV) is world class. He was a protege of Yehudi Menuhin. When Menuhin agreed to be Patron in 1972 of the newly founded St. Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh, he suggested that Doig – ‘his 13 year old Scots prodigy’ – would be the ideal first enrolled pupil. At the age of 16 he was appointed concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He became a professional violinist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the age of 17.

Aged 21 Doig was appointed principal violinist of the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester. Aged 27 he was invited by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to take the post of associate concertmaster. A distinguished career then followed, directing the SCO in the concert halls of Britain, Europe, Canada and the USA – alongside many of the world’s finest soloists and conductors. In 1991 he was also appointed concertmaster of the orchestra at Scottish Opera in Glasgow. He was a regular guest concertmaster of orchestras in Britain and the USA.

Doig was a champion of young musicians, founding the Scottish Bach Consort in 1996 as a vehicle for showcasing young aspiring solo instrumentalists.

On several well documented occasions throughout his career, he boldly used his position as concertmaster to defend the rights of a number of orchestral players, successfully overturning controversial actions proposed by autocratic conductors. (He was lauded by the British Musicians’ Union on his retirement).

Doig was the preferred concertmaster for the film composers Harry Rabinowitz and Carl Davis. He was the concertmaster of freelance session orchestras for Radio Clyde, Radio Forth, Grampian Television, Scottish Television and BBC Scotland. He was the concertmaster on recordings by Nana Mouskouri, Harry Secombe, Johnny Mathis and Kenneth McKellar. He released numerous recordings as a solo violinist playing a wide repertoire ranging from Vivaldi, Bach and Tchaikovsky to Kreisler and traditional Scottish airs.

For a period of five years Doig was Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s concertmaster – beginning in 1988 with his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall. Maxwell Davies was appointed to the royal post of Master of the Queen’s Music in 2004.

In 2007 Doig announced his retirement after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, abruptly ending his exceptional career.
Later that year he received a personal commendation from Queen Elizabeth II at The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.