First performances by McGuire include works by Ross Edwards, Anne Boyd, Barry Conyngham, Alessandro Solbiati and Liza Lim. 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..."[2]
McGuire has released numerous recordings and has received four ARIA Music Award nominations, winning the award for Best Classical Album for Bower (with Genevieve Lacey). Artists with whom he has worked and recorded include Riley Lee (shakuhachi); Patricia Pollett (viola); and Jane Edwards and Merlyn Quaife (sopranos). In 2011 he recorded Eugene Goossens' Concerto Piece for oboe and two harps with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, for Chandos.[citation needed]
In 2020 he curated the Chamber Landscapes series at UKARIA for the Adelaide Festival. Composer + Citizen featured performances by Heath Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, Anthony Marwood, Siobhan Stagg, Ludovico's Band, and the Australian premiere of Lembit Beecher and Hannah Moscovitch's I Have no Stories to Tell You.[citation needed]
He is[when?] artistic co-director of the Australian baroque ensemble Ludovico's Band, specialising in Italian and Spanish works of the 17th century. Previous performances with the band include Monteverdi's Orfeo at the 2007 Queensland Music Festival; J.S. Bach's St John Passion for Melbourne Recital Centre; a baroque triple bill for Victorian Opera; Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro for Victorian Opera; a semi-staged performance of Monteverdi's Eighth Book of Madrigals – Love + the Art of War; and a CD The Italian Ground on ABC Classics.[citation needed]
Recognition
In 2003 McGuire was awarded an inaugural creative fellowship from the State Library Victoria to research the works of Peggy Glanville-Hicks. The fellowship enabled him to produce piano reductions of Glanville-Hicks' Letters from Morocco and the final scene from the opera Sappho, and a new edition of the Sonata for Harp.[4][5]
He received a Churchill Fellowship in 2004 to travel to San Francisco and New York to research baroque performance and contemporary music ensembles.[citation needed]
Other roles
He is the founding president of the New Music Network; was chair of the music committee of the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts;[6] is a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra Artistic Advisory Committee; and was music director of the AYO's National Music Camp in 2003, 2006 and 2008. He was the inaugural curator of the Utzon Music Series from 2006 until 2011 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.[7]
In 2018 he was on the selection jury for the ClassicalNEXT conference in Rotterdam, and a jury member for the piano trio section of the Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne competition in Graz, Austria.[citation needed]
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.