Paul MacAlindin was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and holds degrees and post-graduate degrees from both the University of York and the University of Surrey.
He has been a full time classical musician since 1993 when he was assistant for Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic.
Since then he has been conductor and guest conductor for many orchestras including New Zealand Symphony, Dusseldorf Symphoniker and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.
In his book Upbeat: The Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, MacAlindin chronicles the six years he was musical director of the now-dissolved National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.