My Musical Background

Glasgow born Edward (Eddie) McGuire studied composition with James Iliff (RAM 1966-70) and with Ingvar Lidholm in Stockholm in 1971. He received a British Composers Award (2003), Creative Scotland Award (2004) and has been featured composer at several international festivals. His Rant won the competition to find a test piece for the 1978 Carl Flesch International Violin Competition and his String Quartet won the competition to find a quartet to feature at the gala concert for the 40th anniversary of the Society for the Promotion of New Music in 1982.

The BBCSSO Proms performance of his Symphonic Poem: Calgacus  was selected for BBC Music Magazine's CD 'The Very Best of the BBC Orchestras' (1997). Commissions and broadcasts have included those from St Magnus Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Bath Guitar Festival, Edinburgh International Harp Festival,  Lorient Festival, Glasgow Festival Strings, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong City Chamber Orchestra, Highland Chamber Orchestra, Glasgow Chamber Orchestra, Meadows Chamber Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Northern Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Notable successes are his 3 act ballet Peter Pan (Scottish Ballet; Hong Kong Ballet), opera to a libretto by Marianne Carey The Loving of Etain (Paragon Opera) and concertos for guitar, trombone, violin, viola, bass and accordion as well as 24 Preludes for various solo instruments. He writes for and plays with The Whistlebinkies and Chinese music group Harmony Ensemble.
Eddie playing bamboo flute at St Mungo Museum, Glasgow, September 2011
Eddie on flute with The Whistlebinkies 2014 photo by Louis Decarlo for their induction into the Traditional Music Hall of Fame

Recent works include Let the Games Begin for Glasgow Chamber Choir, Cowal Colours for Hoot and Dialogue for Philip Sawyer and Andrea Kuypers. In 2015 his Symphonies of Galaxies was premiered at University of St Andrews by its New Music Ensemble conducted by Bede Williams - a collaborative venture with its Department of Astronomy and Physics. 2016 saw the premiere of Botanic Gardens for Grimoire (4 players at 2 pianos) which was repeated at the Purcell Room, London, on May 21st, 2018 by 'Piano40'.

Both CD collections of his music (on Delphian Records) have achieved 'Editor's Choice' in Gramophone Magazine - Eddie McGuire: Music for Flute, Guitar and Piano (2006) and Entangled Fortunes (2015, performed by Red Note ensemble).

During his childhood in Possilpark, north west Glasgow, his father's male voice choir rehearsed at the family home and he had access to the local church organ. This gave him a lasting insight into choral music. The most recent outcome has been his work with Paisley Abbey Choir. His Three Donne Lyrics   was premiered on March 4th 2018 by Paisley Abbey Choir with Ewan Robertson (bass flute) and is now available on their CD 'Celtic Payer' issued to acclaim by Priory Records.  His Wiltshire Serenade was premiered by Marleborough College Chamber Orchestra at the Memorial Hall, Marleborough on  May 18th 2018. Now complete is a Concerto for Cello and String Orchestra commissioned by Alex Hamilton for cellist Robert Irvine. He received the annual McEwen Commission and his resulting String Trio ll  was premiered at the University of Glasgow Concert Hall on February 28th, 2019. His new guitar quintet, Nocturne and Sunrise  was premiered on July 16th 2021 by Stefan Grasse at the Saiten Wirbel Guitar Society in Tucherschloss, Nuremberg - with Stefan's CD recording released in 2023. It was repeated at The Big Guitar Weekend at RCS Glasgow in 2023 by Ian Watt and the RCS guitar quartet. His new Overture: Revival, celebrating return of music after lockdowns was premiered on January 15 2023 by The Merchant Sinfonia in Glasgow's City Hall.