Paul Docherty

Biography

Hailed for his 'completely compelling and musically moving' playing, Scottish violinist Paul Docherty graduated with a first-class honours degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2023, achieving highest possible marks in his final recital. He has benefited from masterclasses with Nicola Benedetti, Midori, Jennifer Pike, Joseph Swensen, Gina McCormack, David Watkin, Catherine Lord, Peter Hanson, Tamar Bulia, Lela Mtchedlidze and Pedro de Alcantara.

Recent prize-winnings include the Mabel Glover string quartet prize, the Hilda Bailey violin prize (including the Walcer Prize for solo violin), the Dunbar-Gerber Prize for Chamber Music, the Bessie Spence Prize for Violin, the Mary D Adams Prize for chamber music, the Scottish Symphony Club Orchestral Prize, and the Sibelius Essay Prize for his academic writing.

As a concerto soloist, Paul most recently performed Bruch's 2nd Concerto with the City of Carlisle Orchestra alongside Peggy Wu, which was described as an 'extraordinarily successful' collaboration, and his Bruch 1st concerto with Glasgow Sinfonia the previous year was hailed as 'a very impressive, commanding performance, full of flair'. Alongside romantic repertoire, he enjoys regularly performing Baroque concerti with the Telemann Ensemble.

As a passionate chamber musician, Paul performs in a variety of ensembles and tours chamber music internationally, most recently performing in Malta, France, Sweden and Germany. By invitation, his quartet was honoured to provide chamber music for His Majesty King Charles III in his private residence.

Alongside performing, Paul made his acting debut on films including Guillermo del Toro's (2025) BAFTA and Oscar winning Frankenstein, which is also streaming on Netflix.

Paul is a strong advocate for music education, and he is incredibly grateful for all the support he has received from the Harrison Frank Family Foundation, the Wolfson Trust and the Benslow Trust.