Elspeth Mackay is an arranger, cellist and cello teacher based in Glasgow.

Elspeth has a varied arranging and orchestration portfolio with recent commissions for classical artists such as saxophonist Jess Gillam (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Jess Gillam at Christmas EP; On The Nature of Daylight – Time; and You’ve Got a Friend – Goodnight Songs for Rebel Girls) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Bond 25 - Moonraker, Tomorrow Never Dies and Writing’s On The Wall): and also popular artists such as Horse. She wrote the string arrangement for the new single ‘Leaving’ and is currently arranging for the next Horse album. Elspeth also performed and collaboratively arranged for the BBC Scotland Singer Songwriter of the year competition 2019. Elspeth then provided the arrangement of the winning song ‘Love Like This’ for winner Mike Mckenzie’s live at the BBC session. She now has ongoing arranging and performance projects with Mike Mckenzie, including the string arrangement on his successful single ‘Saving Grace’ which has had play on BBC Radio 2 and Radio Scotland. She has also arranged for finalist Liv Dawn and is currently arranging for a Creative Scotland funded project with Mike Mckenzie. Elspeth has also provided arrangements for Music Lab Collective. Contact me to discuss your arranging needs.

Elspeth Mackay was born in Glasgow and is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. At Guildhall, Elspeth studied cello under Stefan Popov and Pierre Doumenge and also piano with Laura Roberts. Since graduating in 2007, she has forged a successful career in performance, education and arranging. During her time in London, Elspeth performed in many notable venues including LSO St. Lukes, the Royal Albert Hall and The Barbican Centre.

 Elspeth has also had arrangements commissioned for performance in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow Cathedral and the T in the Park music festival, and composed the strings for the album ‘The World of Things’ -  a collaboration project with Scottish actor Billy Boyd and his band ‘Beecake’.