Fife music community shocked at death of respected musician

Composer and conductor Bruce Fraser, pictured at a musicians' play day he organised at Buckhaven High School last year for present and past staff and pupils.

Friends, former colleagues and fellow musicians have been saddened at the sudden death of much loved composer and conductor Bruce Fraser yesterday (Thurdsday).

A former head of music at Buckhaven High School, Bruce was highly respected in the music community and had established an international reputation as a composer with a huge number of published titles worldwide.

He composed many commissions for a variety of groups, including a concerto for trumpet and orchestra for John Wallace and the Fife Youth Orchestra.

He and wife Pat in 1982 founded Lomond Music to publish music, particularly for school brass and wind bands.

It expanded into titles for GCSE and Standard Grade/Intermediate courses and many of its works are used in classrooms throughout the UK.

Its most popular titles can be found in bandroom libraries of brass and wind bands worldwide.

Bruce’s commissioned works include From Tea Slopes to Tenements, a choral work for Glasgow Chamber Choir; From Sea to Sky for Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Trust, and The Queen’s Wake for Cupar Choral Society.