Biography

Born on the Isle of Arran, Iain is a critically-acclaimed classical pianist.

After making his concerto debut aged 16 with the Junior RCS Symphony Orchestra, he went on to gain his ATCL diploma in piano with distinction aged 17 and since then has achieved Grade 8 saxophone and clarinet with distinction.

He has won a great number of prizes including 1st prize in the Moray Piano Competition, 1st prize in the National (UK and Ireland) final of the Rotary Young Musician, 1st prize in the RCS’s Dunbar Gerber chamber music competition, 1st in the Lamond Prize solo piano competition, and 2nd prize in the RCS Walcer Prize for Chopin piano solo.

In 2019 he performed his international recital debut at Kaunas Piano Fest in Lithuania. He also gained his Bachelor’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) with First Class Honours, studying with Jonathan Plowright and Heather Slade-Lipkin, with additional tuition from the likes of Olga Kern and Steven Osborne.

Iain went on to gain a place to study on the Master of Performance course at the Royal College of Music in London.

He has performed extensively across the UK in venues including Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, Usher Hall and Glasgow City Halls. He has aspirations to make a career as a soloist or collaborative pianist working with orchestras and instrumental soloists.

How the Award Helped

Iain’s Award supported his studies at the Royal College of Music in London.