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Since leaving the Royal Academy of Music in 1996, Scott has performed nationally and internationally with this country’s finest ensembles. View Scott's CV. Most memorable highlights to date are performances of Bach’s masterpiece, ‘The Christmas Oratorio’, with the Academy of Ancient Music and the Gabrieli Consort; Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ and Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic; Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ with Vernon Handley; Beethoven Symphonies and Concertos with the London Mozart Players and Stephen Kovacevich; appearances on ‘Friday Night is Music Night’, the world's longest-running 'live music' programme on radio, with the BBC Concert Orchestra; and performances with Mistlav Rostrapovich, Michael Tilson-Thomas, John Williams and John Adams directing the London Symphony Orchestra. In addition to live performances, Scott has played on recordings with numerous ensembles. These include several CDs in the London Mozart Players' 'Contemporaries of Mozart' series; 'A Flowering Tree' by John Adams with the composer conducting the LSO (to be released September 2008); Mahler's 7th Symphony with the LSO in the LSO Live Series; 'The Judgement of Paris' by John Ecclces with Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company (to be released 2009); 'Hodie Gloriosa' with The London Mozart Players Brass Ensemble; Bainton Symphony No.3 and Boughton Symphony No.1 with Vernon Handley and The BBC Concert Orchestra and Symphonies Nos 1 and 3 by Matthew Taylor with the composer conducting. Listen Scott’s Diary is held with the Musicians Answering Service.
Scott’s musical development began at the age of five when he started taking piano lessons. He continued studying the piano privately up to grade eight, but it was at school during his GCSEs and A levels that he began to study timpani and percussion. His teacher, Dr Roger Blair, was timpanist with the Guildford Philharmonic at the time and also Scott’s classroom music teacher. Scott is very grateful for the time, energy and guidance, not to mention the many free lessons Dr Blair gave, allowing him to successfully audition for places in the local Surrey Youth Wind Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the Royal Academy of Music. Keen to concentrate on orchestral rather than solo percussion at the Royal Academy, Scott studied with ex-RPO Principal Percussionist, Nicolas Cole, and current Principal, Stephen Quigley, to gain his degree and licentiate. Scott continued with postgraduate studies under the tutorage of LSO Principals Neil Percy and Kurt-Hans Goedicke. The Academy had, and continues to have, a very busy orchestral schedule. Highlights included working with composers such as Adam Gorb, Paul Patterson, Matthew Taylor, Harrison Birtwistle, and John Webb, and with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Christopher Hogwood, Sir Simon Rattle, Nicholas Cleobury, Lutz Kohler, Andrea Quinn and Michael Rosewell. Memorable performances include Walton’s First Symphony; Brahm's Second; Shostakovich’s Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh; Holst’s ‘Planet Suite’; and Britten’s opera, ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’. Percussion Ensemble performances included Edgar Varese’s ‘Ionisation’ and John Cage’s ‘Living Room Music’. Any spare time between Academy commitments was spent gaining orchestral experience outside college, and successful auditions gained Scott places in the European Union Youth, the Young Musicians Symphony and the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestras. Notable tours and concerts were with the great conductors Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Colin Davis and Mistlav Rostrapovich with music by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Elgar and Stravinsky. Later in Scott’s time at the Academy he began to freelance professionally and his first professional engagement came in 1993 with the LPO in a concert of music by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. West End experience soon followed. He was the regular deputy for Julian Fairbank on ‘Sunset Boulevard’, a single player show on drum set, timpani and percussion, and then ‘Martin Guerre’, a timpani and percussion chair. Both were invaluable experiences and demonstrated the versatility and dexterity required to be a professional London freelancer. The latter part of Scott’s time at the Academy saw Timpani becoming his preferred discipline, and after a class with Christopher Hogwood on Act 3 of ‘The Fairy Queen’, Scott’s interest in baroque music and authentic performance was ignited.
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