Biography

Brought up on a deer farm near Elgin, Magnus is a keen composer and a highly proficient multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, violin, and accordion. In 2016, he won a highly coveted place at the Royal Academy of Music to study Composition with Christopher Austin.

Magnus began learning the piano accordion and violin at the age of 6 and began teaching himself the piano around the same time, developing the skill of improvisation which ultimately lead to his interest in composition. Whilst at school he played violin with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, as well gigging regularly as a pianist. In tandem with his classical pursuits, he is also a keen Jazz musician, and performs regularly both as a solo pianist and as part of his jazz trio.

Magnus is very involved in traditional Scottish music, and appears regularly as an accordionist with his ceilidh band. Composition is his foremost passion, and it is his ambition to become a composer for film and television as well as for the concert stage.

Magnus says:

“For the last four years of my Grandpa’s life he struggled with severe dementia, and during this time, I discovered that through music I could communicate emotionally with him, even though he was otherwise unable to respond coherently. It is this potential for emotional communication which gives me an unbeatable thrill and is the primary factor driving me to compose. I love presenting my work to an audience and observing how they respond and interpret the music individually.

It is my ambition to become a composer for film and television, as well as the concert stage. For a young composer, I cannot possibly overstate what an extraordinary opportunity being able to study at the Academy is. The truly outstanding feature of my studies here is the vast array of performance opportunities offered to composers, providing second-to-none practical experience of writing for world-class musicians.“

How the Award Helped