He is a tuba player and conductor born in Scotland. When he was young he started out in
his musical career by playing the tuba in a local brass band and taking
part in various competitions. He became the junior Scottish Champion and
went on to attend the Royal College of Music.After graduating he was given the position of Principal
Tuba with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and stayed there for
four years, until moving on to take further positions in Zurich's Orchester
der Oper and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.Over the course of his career he has gone on to work
with The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, the BBC Philharmonic as a soloist and
chamber musician.Becoming
internationally known he has given many premieres of works by many
contemporary composers such as Gregson, Horovitz, Bingham and Penderecki
and has given numerous recitals all over the world with many leading
orchestras.He also became
known for conducting, leading led several international brass bands and
ensembles, and is now the Principal Guest Conductor for the National Youth
Wind Orchestra of Great Britain and Music Director of the Brighouse and Rastrick
Brass band.His recordings include British
Tuba Concertos, Tuba Tribute to Fletch,Vizcaya, thePhilip
Jones Brass Ensemble's Greatest Hits and 20th Century Album
and his solo CDs Gourlay Plays Tuba and East Meets West. Very
involved in the field of musical education he is currently the Head of
Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and has previously held
the post of Head of Wind and Percussion at the Royal Northern College of
Music, where he received an Honorary Fellowship.He has also been a guest teacher at many worldwide
schools including the Juilliard School of Music, The Eastman School of
Music and the Hong King Academy for Performing Arts, and is a regular judge
at competitions.
