Donnie Deacon
Mr Deacon is a lecturer of violin, viola and chamber music at the RCS. Mr Deacon also enjoys leading sectional rehearsals for the RCS Symphony Orchestra. Donnie also enjoys online teaching with students in the Middle East and North America.
Donnie Deacon has traversed the terrain of both performance as a violinist in national and international contexts, and conductor and director in recent years. Born in Glasgow, he began his violin studies with Robert Cairns, followed by Jerre Gibson at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Mr Deacon continued his studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London under the tutelage of Natasha Boyarskaya and Lord Menuhin. He then attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he continued under Jaime Laredo and Ida Kavafian.
Following his studies at Curtis, Deacon was appointed Principal Second Violin of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO), the youngest person to have ever held this position (at the age of 21), a chair he held from 2001-2016. Deacon has performed as soloist all over the world with orchestras such as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, BT Scottish Ensemble, London Soloists, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, Pablo de Sarasate Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Curtis Institute of Music. He has been guest Concertmaster of both the Vancouver Symphony and The National Arts Centre Orchestra, among other ensembles.
As an advocate for new music, Deacon has given the world premiere of Gary Kulesha’s 2nd violin concerto and William Rowson’s violin concerto.
Mr Deacon was a founding member of the Zukerman Chamber Players, a string quintet led by legendary violinist Pinchas Zukerman. The ZCP performed at the worlds most prestigious festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Verbier and the BBC Proms.
Mr Deacon also held the position of Music Director of the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra in Canada from 2012-2023.