Alasdair Cottee is an award-winning Scottish oboist currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music on a scholarship, where he studies with Christopher Cowie and Patrick Flanagan. He performs as both a soloist and orchestral musician and has held the position of Principal Oboe with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. He has also performed as Principal Oboe with the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra.

Alasdair’s orchestral experience includes six appearances at the BBC Proms and performances at many of the UK’s leading concert venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican, Bridgewater Hall and Usher Hall. He has worked with distinguished conductors including Sir Mark Elder, Jakub Hrůša and Jaime Martín, and has performed with professional ensembles including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Dunedin Consort. His performances have also been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four.

In 2026, Alasdair was a finalist in BBC Scotland’s Young Classical Musician of the Year, performing Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He was previously a quarter-finalist in the 2024 BBC Young Musician competition. Other achievements include winning the Gilbert Innes Prize for Woodwind and First Prize at the MAP-IMC, receiving the Wind Medal at the Edinburgh Competition Festival, and reaching the final of the Bromsgrove International Young Musician’s Platform.

Alongside his orchestral and solo work, Alasdair is a passionate chamber musician. He spent a year performing with Clyde Winds, a Glasgow-based wind quintet with whom he achieved competition success and performed at venues across England and Scotland. He also participated in the Hellens Music Chamber Festival in 2026 and continues to collaborate with chamber musicians and ensembles across the UK.

Alasdair has participated in masterclasses across the UK and Europe with internationally renowned oboists and professors, including Nicholas Daniel, François Leleux, Emmanuelle Laville, Christian Wetzel, Christopher Cowie and Nick Deutsch. He continues to develop his musical interests across solo, orchestral and chamber repertoire alongside his studies at the Royal Academy of Music.