Marshall McGuire
Encyclopedia
Marshall McGuire is a renowned Australia
n harp
ist, teacher, conductor and musical administrator. He has been described as the world's greatest champion of new music for the harp. Tristram Cary
has written "A new school of harp music is emerging from the enterprise of this innovative master performer".
. He studied at VCASS, the Victorian College of the Arts
, the Paris Conservatoire
and the Royal College of Music
, London
.
From 1988-1992, he was Principal Harpist with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. He has been a member of the ELISION Ensemble
since 1988, and Lecturer in Harp at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
since 1990.
He has performed as soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra
, English String Orchestra, Les Talens Lyriques
, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
and the Australia Ensemble
and has appeared at international festivals including Aldeburgh, Melbourne, Milan, Geneva, Brighton, Vienna, Huddersfield, Huntington and Adelaide.
He has commissioned more than 30 new works for harp, which work was recognised by the 1997 Sounds Australian Award for the Most Distinguished Contribution to the Presentation of Australian Music. His commissions include composers such as Elena Kats-Chernin
, Andrew Ford
, Gerard Brophy
, David Chesworth
, Damien Ricketson
, Matthew Shlomowitz
and Matthew Hindson
.
First performances by Marshall McGuire include works by Ross Edwards
, Anne Boyd
, Barry Conyngham
and others. Many composers have sought his guidance in their writing for the harp. He writes: "Composers are always seeking information from harpists about what can and can't be done when writing for harp. While we should always be flattered when approached by a composer, we should also be aware of the boundaries that we set, so that we don't end up with unplayable music - I'd probably have said 'No' to both Richard Wagner
and Richard Strauss
. Mostly, less is more..."
McGuire has released numerous CDs, and has received three ARIA Music Award
nominations. Artists with whom he has worked and recorded include Riley Lee
(shakuhachi
); Alexa Still
and Geoffrey Collins (flutes); Kim Walker
(bassoon); Patricia Pollett (viola); and Jane Edwards and Merlyn Quaife (sopranos).
In 1998, with Lyle Chan, he co-created A Tale of Two Cities, a radio feature broadcast on ABC Classic FM
, which was a monologue based on the lives of gay
composers such as Ned Rorem
, Leonard Bernstein
, Samuel Barber
, Virgil Thompson
, Aaron Copland
, Paul Bowles
, Francis Poulenc
, Stanley Bate
and Reynaldo Hahn
.
He made his conducting debut in performances of Mozart
's The Magic Flute
with Pacific Opera
in 1999. From 1996 to 2000 he created a series of chamber music concerts for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Festival, the first of their type in the world. From 1999-2001 he was curator of the Twilight Chamber Music Series for Sydney Festival
, and in 2003 he was artist-in-residence at the Bundanon Trust.
In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Director of The Seymour Group, and was awarded an inaugural Creative Fellowship from the State Library of Victoria
to research the works of Peggy Glanville-Hicks
. The Fellowship enabled him to produce piano reductions of Peggy Glanville-Hicks' Letters from Morocco and the final scene from the opera Sappho, and a new edition of the Sonata for Harp.
He received a Churchill Fellowship in 2004 to travel to San Francisco and New York
to research baroque
performance and contemporary music ensembles.
Marshall McGuire was the Founding President of the New Music Network, is Chair of the Music Committee of the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts, is a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra
Artistic Advisory Committee, and was Music Director of the AYO's National Music Camp 2008. He is the Curator of the Utzon
Room Music Series at the Sydney Opera House
, and in December 2006 was appointed Executive Manager, Artistic Planning with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
. He was a participant in the Australia 2020 Summit
held in April 2008 at Parliament House, Canberra
.
In 2008 he performed for the Perth International Arts Festival
; Musica Viva Australia
; toured nationally with the Australian String Quartet
; with the ELISION Ensemble at the Brisbane Festival
and Melbourne International Arts Festival
; as featured soloist at the World Shakuhachi
Festival; and as soloist with The Queensland Orchestra.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
ist, teacher, conductor and musical administrator. He has been described as the world's greatest champion of new music for the harp. Tristram Cary
Tristram Cary
Tristram Ogilvie Cary, OAM was a pioneering English-Australian composer.-Early life:Cary was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Westminster School in London. He was the son of a pianist and the novelist, Joyce Cary, author of Mister Johnson...
has written "A new school of harp music is emerging from the enterprise of this innovative master performer".
Biography
Marshall McGuire was born in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. He studied at VCASS, the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
, the Paris Conservatoire
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
and the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
From 1988-1992, he was Principal Harpist with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. He has been a member of the ELISION Ensemble
ELISION Ensemble
The ELISION Ensemble is a chamber ensemble specialising in contemporary classical music,concentrating on the creation and presentation of new works....
since 1988, and Lecturer in Harp at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
since 1990.
He has performed as soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra
Australian Chamber Orchestra
The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975. Richard Tognetti was appointed Lead Violin in 1989 and subsequently appointed Artistic Director....
, English String Orchestra, Les Talens Lyriques
Les Talens Lyriques
Les Talens Lyriques is a baroque orchestra founded in 1991 by French conductor Christophe Rousset.The ensemble takes its name from Jean-Philippe Rameau's opéra-ballet Les fêtes d'Hébé ou les talens lyriques .- External links :...
, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music.The musicians play from original edition scores on restored or reproduced instruments of the 18th century...
, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
and the Australia Ensemble
Australia Ensemble
Australia Ensemble @UNSW is an Australian Chamber Group active since 1980.The group was founded after a proposal put to the University of New South Wales by musicologist Roger Covell and clarinettist Murray Khouri, then colleagues at the University. Since that time it has occupied a prominent...
and has appeared at international festivals including Aldeburgh, Melbourne, Milan, Geneva, Brighton, Vienna, Huddersfield, Huntington and Adelaide.
He has commissioned more than 30 new works for harp, which work was recognised by the 1997 Sounds Australian Award for the Most Distinguished Contribution to the Presentation of Australian Music. His commissions include composers such as Elena Kats-Chernin
Elena Kats-Chernin
Elena Kats-Chernin is an Australian composer.Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent , and migrated to Australia in 1975.-Europe:...
, Andrew Ford
Andrew Ford
Andrew Ford is an English and Australian composer, writer and radio presenter.He was Composer-in-residence with the Australian Chamber Orchestra , held the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composer Fellowship from 1998 to 2000 and was awarded a two-year fellowship by the Music Board of the Australia Council...
, Gerard Brophy
Gerard Brophy
Gerard Louis Brophy is a first-class cricketer, presently contracted to Yorkshire. He has also played for Ireland, Free State, Northamptonshire and Transvaal in a well travelled career....
, David Chesworth
David Chesworth
David Chesworth is an award-winning Australian-based composer and installation artist. Known for his experimental, and at times minimalist music, he has worked in rock groups, classical ensembles, theatre, opera...
, Damien Ricketson
Damien Ricketson
Damien Ricketson is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music. He grew up in Wollongong, New South Wales and performed early on in the world folk ensemble Sea Gypsies....
, Matthew Shlomowitz
Matthew Shlomowitz
Matthew Shlomowitz is a composer of contemporary classical music.He was raised in Adelaide, Australia and studied with Bozidar Kos at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and with Brian Ferneyhough at Stanford University...
and Matthew Hindson
Matthew Hindson
Matthew John Hindson AM is an Australian composer.-Biography:Matthew Hindson was born in Wollongong in 1968. He studied composition at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne with composers including Peter Sculthorpe, Eric Gross, Brenton Broadstock and Ross Edwards.Hindson's works have been...
.
First performances by Marshall McGuire include works by Ross Edwards
Ross Edwards
Ross Edwards is a former Western Australian and Australian cricketer.Edwards played in 20 Tests for Australia, playing against England, West Indies and Pakistan. He also played in nine One Day Internationals including the 1975 Cricket World Cup series...
, Anne Boyd
Anne Boyd
Anne Elizabeth Boyd AM is an Australian composer and Professor of Music at the University of Sydney.-Early life:Anne Boyd was born in Sydney to James Boyd and Annie Freda Deason Boyd ....
, Barry Conyngham
Barry Conyngham
Emeritus Professor Barry Conyngham AM is an Australian composer and academic. He has over seventy published works and over thirty recordings featuring his compositions, and his works have been premiered or performed in Australia, Japan, North and South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. His...
and others. Many composers have sought his guidance in their writing for the harp. He writes: "Composers are always seeking information from harpists about what can and can't be done when writing for harp. While we should always be flattered when approached by a composer, we should also be aware of the boundaries that we set, so that we don't end up with unplayable music - I'd probably have said 'No' to both Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
. Mostly, less is more..."
McGuire has released numerous CDs, and has received three ARIA Music Award
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
nominations. Artists with whom he has worked and recorded include Riley Lee
Riley Lee
Riley Kelly Lee is an American-born Australian-based shakuhachi player and teacher. In 1980 he became the first non-Japanese person to attain the rank of Dai Shihan in the shakuhachi tradition. He is a recipient of two of the most revered lineages of shakuhachi playing, descending from the...
(shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
); Alexa Still
Alexa Still
Alexa Still is a New Zealand born flutist currently based in Oberlin, Ohio, where she teaches at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.Still studied in the US with Samuel Baron at SUNY Stony Brook and with Thomas Nyfenger...
and Geoffrey Collins (flutes); Kim Walker
Kim Walker (bassoonist)
Kim Walker is a bassoonist of Scottish/American origins. She has performed throughout Europe and the US, and in China, and been prominent at leading Music Festivals such as Ravinia, Wolf Trap, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart in the US, Prades, Luzern, Korsholm, Schleswig-Holstein and London Proms in Europe...
(bassoon); Patricia Pollett (viola); and Jane Edwards and Merlyn Quaife (sopranos).
In 1998, with Lyle Chan, he co-created A Tale of Two Cities, a radio feature broadcast on ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
, which was a monologue based on the lives of gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
composers such as Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.-Life:...
, Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
, Virgil Thompson
Virgil Thompson
Virgil Thompson is an American author. Her first published novel was the 2002 crime drama Final Things: A Novel of Suspense. She lives in Connecticut.-Bibliography:...
, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, Paul Bowles
Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
, Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, Stanley Bate
Stanley Bate
-Life:Bate received early training in music and had composed two operas by age twenty. He studied under Ralph Vaughan Williams, R.O. Morris, Gordon Jacob, and Arthur Benjamin, and then in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and in Berlin with Paul Hindemith. He wrote incidental music for performances at...
and Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn was a Venezuelan, naturalised French, composer, conductor, music critic and diarist. Best known as a composer of songs, he wrote in the French classical tradition of the mélodie....
.
He made his conducting debut in performances of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
with Pacific Opera
Pacific Opera
Pacific Opera is an opera company based in Sydney, Australia.Founded in 2003 by Sylvie Renaud-Calmel and Christine Douglas, the current Artistic Director, the company has an annual Young Artist Program for emerging opera singers aged 18–33, which integrates coachings, rehearsals and stage craft...
in 1999. From 1996 to 2000 he created a series of chamber music concerts for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
The Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual LGBTQI pride parade and festival in Sydney, Australia, and draws in thousands of visitors from around Australia and overseas...
Festival, the first of their type in the world. From 1999-2001 he was curator of the Twilight Chamber Music Series for Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival is Australia's largest and most attended annual cultural event running every January since it was first held in 1977. Its program features around 80 events including contemporary and classical music, dance, circus, drama, visual arts and artist talks...
, and in 2003 he was artist-in-residence at the Bundanon Trust.
In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Director of The Seymour Group, and was awarded an inaugural Creative Fellowship from the State Library of Victoria
State Library of Victoria
The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district...
to research the works of Peggy Glanville-Hicks
Peggy Glanville-Hicks
Peggy Glanville-Hicks was an Australian composer.- Biography :Peggy Glanville-Hicks was born Melbourne in 1912. At age 15 she began studying composition with Fritz Hart in Melbourne...
. The Fellowship enabled him to produce piano reductions of Peggy Glanville-Hicks' Letters from Morocco and the final scene from the opera Sappho, and a new edition of the Sonata for Harp.
He received a Churchill Fellowship in 2004 to travel to San Francisco and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to research baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
performance and contemporary music ensembles.
Marshall McGuire was the Founding President of the New Music Network, is Chair of the Music Committee of the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts, is a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra
Australian Youth Orchestra
The Australian Youth Orchestra is an Australian organisation for young musicians. It operates the flagship Youth Orchestra as well as Camerata Australia, Young Australian Concert Artists and Young Symphonists. It also runs several other activities including master classes, outreach programmes and...
Artistic Advisory Committee, and was Music Director of the AYO's National Music Camp 2008. He is the Curator of the Utzon
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, , AC was a Danish architect, most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon became only the second person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime...
Room Music Series at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, and in December 2006 was appointed Executive Manager, Artistic Planning with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra , often known as the "Orchestra of the West", is the premier professional orchestra of the state of Western Australia.-History:...
. He was a participant in the Australia 2020 Summit
Australia 2020 Summit
The Australia 2020 Summit was a convention, referred to in Australian media as a summit, which was held on 19-20 April 2008 in Canberra, Australia, aiming to "help shape a long term strategy for the nation's future"...
held in April 2008 at Parliament House, Canberra
Parliament House, Canberra
Parliament House is the meeting facility of the Parliament of Australia located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. The building was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and opened on 1988 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia...
.
In 2008 he performed for the Perth International Arts Festival
Perth International Arts Festival
The Perth International Arts Festival is Australia's longest running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia between February-March. The program features contemporary and classical music, dance, theatre, opera, visual arts, large-scale public works, Lotterywest Festival Films and the...
; Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
; toured nationally with the Australian String Quartet
Australian String Quartet
The Australian String Quartet is a prominent Australian string quartet, which presents an annual program of chamber music throughout Australia and internationally....
; with the ELISION Ensemble at the Brisbane Festival
Brisbane Festival
Brisbane Festival is an annual arts festival held in Brisbane, Australia.-History:Brisbane Festival was developed by the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council in 1996 as an initiative to foster the arts....
and Melbourne International Arts Festival
Melbourne International Arts Festival
Melbourne Festival is a celebration of dance, theatre, music, visual arts, multimedia, outdoor and free events held for 17 days each October in a number of venues across Melbourne, Australia.-History:...
; as featured soloist at the World Shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
Festival; and as soloist with The Queensland Orchestra.