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Donald Macleod

Donald explores in depth the life and works of a composer each week in Composer of the Week.

Donald Macleod was educated in Glasgow and at St Andrew's University where he studied psychology. His musical education is fairly rudimentary: his piano teacher gave up on him at the age of 8, telling his parents that he was wasting their money! Listening to Radio 3 became a habit early on.

Donald had envisaged a career working with an assortment of exotic creatures in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s Natural History Unit, but they wouldn’t have him. An alternative path opened up when he got a job at the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ creating often outlandish sound effects in plays for the Radio Drama department. Never imagining that he would find himself rubbing shoulders with his broadcasting heroes, he began his career as a presenter in 1982 on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3 and for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½1's 60 minutes as a TV reporter and newsreader.