Alastair was born in Hexham in 1983. He took up the trumpet aged 8, and quickly progressed through the grades. At 16, he entered Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, before going on to study Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music, graduating in 2005. Whilst at the RNCM he studied conducting with Clark Rundell and, since graduating, has conducted numerous amateur and school ensembles. He is currently the Musical Director of the Tyneside Chamber Orchestra, the Ponteland Community Wind Band and, until recently, the Riding Mill Choral Society. Alastair is delighted to have been appointed conductor of the NOS and is relishing the opportunity to work with a symphony orchestra of such heritage and quality.