Scottish conductor Iain McLarty is Musical Director of the Scottish Chamber Choir, Conductor of St Andrews Symphony Orchestra and a regular guest conductor with the Edinburgh University String Orchestra and Meadows Chamber Orchestra. In Scotland he has worked with groups across the country, performing much of the standard orchestral and choral repertoire as well as such diverse pieces as a concerto for birds and orchestra, choral works for forty individual voices, and a new opera based on reality TV. He has previously held positions as Sir Alexander Gibson Conducting Fellow with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus and Herrick Bunney Organ Scholar at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. In 2020 he directed a virtual recording of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" which featured musicians from across Scotland and beyond and received a special commendation from the Royal Philharmonic Society at their annual awards in the Inspiration category.

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Iain studied in the Soloist Class at the Royal Danish Academy of Music (DKDM) in Copenhagen with Giordano Bellincampi and Michael Schønwandt, concluding in a concert with Aarhus Symfoniorkester which included the Danish première of James MacMillan's "The Confession of Isobel Gowdie". He has also conducted the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Odense Symfoniorkester, Ålborg Symfoniorkester, Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester, Randers Kammerorkester, Prinsens Musikkorps and the DKDM Symphony Orchestra. He has assisted for productions with the Royal Danish Opera Academy. He is committed to performing contemporary music, giving numerous premières in both Scandinavia and the UK, and has taken part in masterclasses with the London Sinfonietta, Norwegian Radio Orchestra and BBC Singers.

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Iain has participated in orchestral conducting masterclasses with Alexander Vedernikov, Charles Peebles, Johannes Schlaefli, Diego Masson, George Hurst, Benjamin Zander and Timothy Reynish and choral conducting masterclasses with Sofi Jeannin, David Hill, Patrick Russill and Peter Broadbent. He previously studied with James Lowe. Throughout his studies he has been generously supported by Clutterbuck Travel Scholarships, Bucher-Fraser Scholarhips, a Sir James Caird Trust Travelling Scholarship, an Anglo-Danish Society Award, a Roderick Bryson Memorial Trust Award and a Fondation Idella travel scholarship.

 

Aside from conducting, Iain is also a church musician working across a broad range of styles. He currently works with the Wild Goose Resource Group of the Iona Community, was editor of the Church of Scotland’s latest hymnbook ‘God welcomes all’ (Canterbury Press, 2024), and has been regularly involved in planning and leading worship for the World Council of Churches. He previously worked nationally for the Church of Scotland delivering training and developing resources, with a particular focus on work with congregations in the most deprived areas of Scotland. He also works regularly for Trinity College at the University of Glasgow, giving lectures and seminars on church music as well as developing a resource called "Songs for Sunday" which provides song suggestions for the three years of the Revised Common Lectionary. 

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Before taking up conducting and church music, Iain studied Mathematics and Music at the University of Edinburgh with his interest in two such seemingly contrasting fields leading to his featuring in the film “Le pere di Adamo” which was shown at the Rome Film Festival. He also has a Masters in Musicology, with his research focusing on classical and church music in Scotland.

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