Douglas Cameron

Douglas Cameron (1902, Dundee — 1972) was a British cellist, distinguished music educator, and fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (1934). Some of his notable students include Christopher Van Kampen, Derek Simpson, Florence Hooton, David Strange, Douglas Cummings, Keith Harvey, Thomas Igloi, and Julian Lloyd Webber. Cameron studied with Herbert Walenn (1870—1953) at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After graduation, "Duggie" became a member of the Kutcher String Quartet and played cello in The New Queen's Hall Orchestra led by Sir Henry Wood and in Harry Blech's string quartet. In 1927, twenty-five-year-old Douglas became a professor at the Royal College of Music, London, where he taught for many years. During the Second World War, Cameron served as the principal cellist of The National Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with such prominent conductors as Rudolf Schwarz, Norman Del Mar, and Sir Adrian Boult; among the notable premieres he played was Sir Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir John Barbirolli. In the 1950s, Douglas Cameron established the New London String Quartet, featuring Erich Gruenberg and Lionel Bentley on violins and Keith Cummings on viola; they disbanded in 1961.