A POLICE investigation has been launched after a Scottish orchestra conductor and violin teacher was murdered in Argentina.

Finlay Ferguson, director of the Junior Academic Orchestra of the Liberator Theatre, was found dead in his apartment in the central city of Córdoba.

Local reports say that the 60-year-old musician, from Glasgow, was found naked on his bed and had died from a blow to the head. Some money and personal items were taken from his flat.

The alarm was raised by a student who arrived for a pre-arranged music lesson on Friday. A man has now been arrested.

The death has sent shock waves through the artistic community in Argentina, where the Scottish violinist and teacher was highly regarded.

Performances at the theatre where he worked have been cancelled, while the Cordoba Cultural Agency issued a statement expressing its "deepest sympathy" to his family for the "painful loss".

The statement said: "Faced with the regrettable loss of the Director of the Youth Academic Orchestra, Maestro Finlay Ferguson, the Cordoba Culture Agency in the person of its president Graciela Ayame, together with the directors, musicians and staff of the Teatro del Libertador San Martín [offer condolences to] the relatives, friends, students and other mourners of the great teacher, and who formed dozens of violinists and musicians who are now part of the official Orchestras of Cordoba and the rest of the country."

A fluent Spanish speaker, Mr Ferguson lived in Argentina for more than a decade and also offered his services as a translator.

The virtuoso violinist was a former Gold Medal-winning student with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and leader of the academy's orchestra.

He also studied in Germany, where he received the Dunbar Gerber Award for outstanding performances of Beethoven, and had published a Spanish-language book on violin teaching.

Prosecutor Rubén Caro, who is carrying out the investigation into his death, confirmed it was being treated as murder.

He said: "At this time we are going with the Homicides division of Córdoba Police to the place of the incident. It is confirmed that it was a violent death.

"There are details, which we can not provide so as not to hinder the investigation, which confirm that it was a murder."

Maximiliano Olocco, director of the Liberator General San Martin theatre, expressed his disbelief at Mr Ferguson's death, saying: "I was talking to him two or three days ago. We did it often. The vast majority of students in the various symphony orchestras were his students.

"He has lived in the country for 30 years, in Cordoba 20 years. He was conductor of the Orchestra since 2005, after the death of maestro Giraudo. 

"He was on leave because he was working for the Youth Orchestra, he taught at the National University of Cordoba at the Suzuki School. He was a very dear person."

Rocio Peralta, one of Mr Ferguson's former pupils, also paid tribute to the violinist. She said: "He was very dear. Very famous. An irreplaceable person. He made very good students. For me and many people was the first. I took classes for four years. He was an excellent professional."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Conservitoire of Scotland said: "We offer our condolances to Mr Ferguson's family at this dreadful time."