Born in 1963, the youngest son of the acclaimed piper and composer Duncan Johnstone, Neil began playing fiddle at the age of 8 then moved to the Cello at the age of 11. Aged 15 he performed his first solo concerto with the Glasgow Schools Orchestra and the Strathclyde Schools Orchestra.
In 1975 he was awarded the McFarlane Scholarship to study at the junior department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before going down to study at the Royal College of Music in London in 1980 having won an Associated Board Scholarship for a further three years tuition under Joan Dickson.
In 1983 Neil was accepted to study privately with the acclaimed cellist and teacher William Pleeth. During his musical education Neil was awarded many prestigious scholarships and prizes. After graduating, he joined the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with whom he played for ten years, alongside and under the direction of some of the worlds leading musicians. In 1998, Neil moved back down to London where he worked as a session musician before returning home to Scotland, where he took up teaching posts at both the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) & Glasgow University.
Neil and his family moved to the Isle of Lewis in 2004 where he works as a freelance Cellist, composer and string teacher.
Mr Johnstone teaches violin/fiddle and ‘cello in the following schools:
- Stornoway Primary School
- Back School
- Laxdale School
- Sgoil nan Loch
- Sgoil an Rubha
