Raised in a highly musical family in Glasgow, Scotland, Roo Geddes draws on a unique breadth of traditions in his playing. A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with First Class Honours in Classical Violin, he went on to become the first violinist in Scotland to pursue a Masters in Jazz. He performs on his great-great-grandfather’s fiddle, bringing a distinctive voice to a career that spans collaborations with leading orchestras across the UK and Ireland as well as his own acclaimed ensembles Roo & Neil, Darach and Awkward Family Portraits. As a soloist, Roo has toured internationally, performing concerti with the Glasgow Symphony Orchestra and Peebles Symphony Orchestra, and sharing stages with artists such as Rod Stewart and Dougie MacLean. In January of this year Roo premiered a new large-scale work at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, commissioned from him by Celtic Connections for this year’s festival. The work was composed throughout a three-month sojourn in India where he was working with the charity Muktangan as well as music schools such as The Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts. At the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland he was awarded both the distinguished Performance Prize for Jazz and the John McInulty Prize for String Playing. His work with the Irish folk quartet Dallahan and the bluegrass ensemble The Black Denims has taken him around the world, with recent performances in Mexico, the USA, Canada, Spain, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia. He was a finalist in the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2025, and has been recognised with awards including Celtic Connections’ prestigious Danny Kyle Award and Fèis Rois’ “In Tune with Nature” prize. A passionate educator, Roo is a part-time lecturer in Composition and Theory at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, as well as teaching violin and piano privately and with organisations including Big Noise (El Sistema Scotland), Celtic Connections, and St Leonard’s International Baccalaureate School. He holds a Diploma with Distinction in Instrumental Teaching from the ABRSM in London and serves as an ambassador for the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. He has also undertaken international residencies, most recently in rural Mexico with PRISMA, supported by Live Music Now and the British Mexican Society. 2025 was a landmark year of releases, with new albums from Roo & Neil, Darach, and Awkward Family Portraits alongside his debut solo album Close: a personal collection of arrangements and compositions reflecting his upbringing in both classical and traditional Scottish music. The record includes premieres of works by his late grandfather, the composer John Maxwell Geddes, and features collaborations with his mother, grandmother and aunt. Aside from the violin, Roo produces the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival and for many years ran the award-winning concert series Tea and a Tune in Glasgow. He co-ordinates the Eco-Folkies Collective and is currently training for a marathon.