The Glaswegian violist was 68
The death has been announced of Scottish violist Duncan Johnstone, aged 68. He was born in 1957 in Govanhill, Glasgow, and his father – also named Duncan Johnstone – was a renowned Scottish bagpiper and composer.
Johnstone studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) with violist James Durrant, having first played the violin before making the switch to the viola. From 1979–1980, he was a member of London’s National Centre for Orchestral Studies in its inaugural year.
Johnstone performed as principal violist with the Scottish Ballet Orchestra, and as a section violist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
Due to chronic back pain, Johnstone later retired to Barra, a Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, where he continued to teach and to play for local events.
A celebration of his life will be held in Glasgow on 19 January.
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