Scott was born in Glasgow and studied in Manchester, London and Salzburg, where he won the 1996 Mozarteum Concerto Competition. He has appeared with the Gould Piano Trio, Brodsky, Chilingirian, Elias, Navarra and Royal Quartets, Aronowitz, Hebrides, London Bridge, Nash and Razumovsky Ensembles, and as guest principal viola with numerous orchestras including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony and the John Wilson Orchestra.
For five years he was a member of the Leopold String Trio, performing worldwide (including at Carnegie Hall, New York, Musikverein, Vienna, on CD, and frequently at the Wigmore Hall, London ) . In 2002 he returned to Scotland to become principal viola of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has regularly also appeared as soloist, including “Jubilus” by Jonathan Harvey on CD and, most recently, in celebratory concerts for Donald Runnicles’ 60th birthday.
Scott has also performed as a member of the World Orchestra for Peace, has held teaching positions at the Royal Northern College of Music, Chethams’ School and, currently, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and regularly plays flute, viola and harp trios with his wife, flautist Susan Frank, and harpist Lucy Wakeford. He lives outside Glasgow with Sue and their two sons, Ben and Jamie.