Ian D. McElligott is an award-winning arranger, composer, and conductor.  He spent his early days as a military musician (playing the trumpet), leading to a 28-year career in Army music, culminating as Director of Music to the Band of The Coldstream Guards before leaving the Service in early 2002.

Between July 2002 & November 2003 and May through to September 2006 he was Professional Conductor to the Brighouse & Rastrick Band.  In 2015 Ian and his wife Annie relocated to York from Berkshire.  From January 2016, Ian held the position of Resident Musical Director with the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band, an appointment relinquished in May 2022.  And in the same month, Ian accepted the exciting offer to assume the identical position with the world-famous Brighouse & Rastrick Band which after a period of twenty years – took him full circle.

In 2022, Ian devised and produced B&R’s ‘Brass in Concert’ contest-winning programme ‘Tango – the Art of Seduction’.  This included providing all the musical arrangements (5 in total), winning the coveted ‘New Arrangement / Composition Award’ for his arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Adios Nonino’.

In December 2025, following a highly enjoyable tenure as the Band’s Resident Musical Director, during which Ian provided many bespoke arrangements for B&R, Ian stepped aside and was immediately offered the position as Arranger in Residence & Musical Consultant.

As a member of the band’s creative team Ian is intrinsically involved in devising and creating the Band’s programme for the annual ‘Brass in Concert’ contest – an international festival of music which takes place during November in Gateshead’s iconic Glasshouse International Centre for Music.  Additionally, he supports and assists the Band’s Professional Conductor (Professor David King) in preparing Brighouse & Rastrick for major national and international contest performances.