John Wallace is principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is also chair of Conservatoires UK and a member of the Association of European Conservatoires Council. Born in Fife, Scotland, he graduated from Kings College Cambridge, and began his career in the LSO trumpet section, before becoming principal trumpet of the Philharmonia and, later, principal trumpet of the London Sinfonietta, working with the major composers of our time from Berio to Xenakis. He was Artistic Director of Brass at the Royal Academy of Music from 1991 to 2001, gaining at that time a professorship from London University. He formed his own brass ensemble, the Wallace Collection, in 1986. Diverse composers including James Macmillan and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies have written concertos for him. He co-edited the Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments (CUP: 1996) with Trevor Herbert. In 2012 a new book, The Trumpet, co-written with Alexander McGrattan, was published by Yale University Press. He was appointed CBE in 2011.