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| (click on image to enlarge) Dr. Kathleen McGuire, conductor Community Women's Orchestra and San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco |
Short Biography
Three decades of directing orchestras, choirs, operas, ballet, and musicals in the USA, England, and Australia have made Dr. Kathleen McGuire one of the most versatile conductors of her generation. Specializing in working with large forces, she has a reputation for "charming" performers and audiences alike with her good humored manner at the podium.
In September, 2011, she was appointed as Minister of Music and Arts at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, CA, directing the Chancel Choir and overseeing all arts components at the church.
Three decades of directing orchestras, choirs, operas, ballet, and musicals in the USA, England, and Australia have made Dr. Kathleen McGuire one of the most versatile conductors of her generation. Specializing in working with large forces, she has a reputation for "charming" performers and audiences alike with her good humored manner at the podium.
In September, 2011, she was appointed as Minister of Music and Arts at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, CA, directing the Chancel Choir and overseeing all arts components at the church.
Since 2005, McGuire has served as principal conductor of the Oakland-based Community Women’s Orchestra.
She has led the Orchestra at five performances at Davies Symphony Hall
and its first out-of-state tour, commissioned and premiered works by
established, historic, and emerging women composers, and spearheaded
the Orchestra’s 25th anniversary celebrations in May, 2010. In the fall of 2010, McGuire embarked on a new project in San Francisco as the founder and artistic director of Singers Of The Street (S.O.S.), a choir including people who are homeless and disadvantaged, with a mission to sing for justice, healing, and joy.
McGuire was artistic director and conductor of the 200-voice San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) 2000 - 2010. She brought new purpose to the Chorus in its efforts to reach out to and support communities. In her ten years at the podium, SFGMC has raised $430,000 for Northern California charities. Her memorable performances, season after season, are preserved in more than a dozen award-winning CDs and DVDs. Nationally and internationally, McGuire has directed SFGMC and other choruses at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall (2001), and at choral festivals in Sydney (2002), Montréal (2004), Chicago (2006), Miami (2008), and Auckland (2010).
McGuire was artistic director and conductor of the 200-voice San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) 2000 - 2010. She brought new purpose to the Chorus in its efforts to reach out to and support communities. In her ten years at the podium, SFGMC has raised $430,000 for Northern California charities. Her memorable performances, season after season, are preserved in more than a dozen award-winning CDs and DVDs. Nationally and internationally, McGuire has directed SFGMC and other choruses at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall (2001), and at choral festivals in Sydney (2002), Montréal (2004), Chicago (2006), Miami (2008), and Auckland (2010).
Prior to arriving in San Francisco, McGuire conducted for twenty years in Colorado, the United Kingdom, and Australia, leading professional, school, and community orchestras, choirs, operas and musicals. She completed studies in conducting, composition, and music education, and graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Colorado at Boulder (2000). Her renowned arrangements and compositions are widely performed throughout the United States and abroad, and she appears frequently at conferences and festivals as a guest conductor and presenter. Her many achievements include Mayor Gavin Newsom declaring April 22, 2010 as “Kathleen McGuire Day.” She received a 2010 Special Citation from The American Prize in Conducting for Excellence in Music Education, and she was selected by KQED as a 2010 Local Hero. In December, 2010, she was named the first-ever Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Her complete bio is found in Who’s Who In The World and other notable publications.
Full Biography
Three decades of directing orchestras, choirs, operas, ballet, and musicals in the USA, England, and Australia have made Australian-born Dr. Kathleen McGuire one of the most versatile conductors of her generation. Specializing in working with large forces, she has a reputation for "charming" performers and audiences alike with her good humored manner at the podium.
In September, 2011, she was appointed as Minister of Music and Arts at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, CA, directing the Chancel Choir and overseeing all arts components at the church.
In September, 2011, she was appointed as Minister of Music and Arts at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, CA, directing the Chancel Choir and overseeing all arts components at the church.
McGuire is also the Conductor of the Oakland-based Community Women’s Orchestra, having commenced her tenure there in 2005. She has led the Orchestra at five performances at Davies Symphony Hall and its first out-of-state performance tour, encouraged significant membership and audience growth; she has commissioned, reconstructed, or premiered works by historic, established and emerging women composers; and she spearheaded the Orchestra’s monumental 25th anniversary celebrations in 2010, including the production of the Orchestra’s first CD recording.
In addition to her work with the Orchestra, in the fall of 2010, McGuire embarked on a new project in San Francisco as the founder and artistic director of Singers of the Street (S.O.S.), a choir including people who are homeless and disadvantaged, with a mission to sing for justice, healing, and joy.
Recently, McGuire served for more than a decade as the artistic director and conductor of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, 2000 - 2010. She brought new purpose and direction to the Chorus in its efforts to reach out to and support communities. In her ten years at the podium, SFGMC has raised $430,000 for charity, principally with touring benefiting organizations in Modesto, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz. From Vacaville State Prison on World AIDS Day in 2003, to the Gospel Academy Awards in 2008, to the Central Valley and Mission High School in 2010, McGuire has brought the Chorus’s message of harmony and compassion to places its founders only dreamed of.
Nationally and internationally, McGuire brought the Chorus center-stage in collaborations with other choruses at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall (2001), the GALA (Gay And Lesbian Association of) Choruses Festivals in Montréal (2004) and Miami (2008), and Gay Games in Sydney (2002) and in Chicago (2006). In 2010, she conducted a mixed voice chorus from North America at the Out And Loud Choral Festival in Auckland, New Zealand.
Closer to home, McGuire led the Chorus to sold out 25th and 30th anniversary concerts at Davies Symphony Hall and presented season after season of memorable concerts including SFGMC Does Queen (2002), Oh Happy Day (2004), Divas’ Revenge (2005), U.S.S. Metaphor (2008), and Creating Harmony (2008). These magical performances have been preserved forever in a dozen award-winning CD and DVD recordings that are testament to her world-class skills as an arranger and a visionary in commissioning music like Steve Schalchlin's New World Waking and the world’s first ever gay choral work in Arabic, Safeer el-Layl, adding to the treasury of choral music for future generations. In December, 2010, McGuire was named the first-ever Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.
Prior to her arrival in San Francisco, McGuire conducted for twenty years in Colorado, the United Kingdom, and Australia, having led professional, school, and community orchestras, choirs, operas, ballet, and musical theatre productions. She studied conducting, composition, and music education at the University of Melbourne, the Victorian College of the Arts, and Monash University. She completed a Master of Music degree in conducting with Distinction at the University of Surrey in the UK (1996), and graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Colorado at Boulder (2000). Her musical arrangements are compositions are widely performed throughout the United States and abroad.
McGuire has received numerous awards and recognitions, including: Best Musical Director, Victorian Musical Theatre Guild (1991); Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellowship (1994-’95); selected to Pi Kappa Lambda - the National Music Honors Society (2000); SF LGBT Pride Grand Marshal (2006); named “Influential Person of 2006,” San Francisco Bay Times; April 22, 2010, was declared by Mayor Gavin Newsom as “Kathleen McGuire Day.” She received a 2010 Special Citation from The American Prize for Excellence in Music Education, and was selected by KQED as a 2010 Local Hero. Her complete bio is found in Who’s Who In The World and other notable publications.
In other endeavors, McGuire co-founded GLAM Youth Choir in San Francisco in 2005 and for several years served on and chaired its steering committee. She is a member of the GALA Choruses Association Services Committee, a GALA Choruses Ambassador, and she is the Officer of Culture on the board of directors of the Federation of Gay Games. She was invited to make a presentation on the topic of concert programming at the 2010 annual conference for the Association of California Symphony Orchestras, alongside panelists from Carnegie Hall and the LA Philharmonic. As a singer and instrumentalist, she appears frequently at the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. In 2006 she rode in the AIDS LifeCycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and served as a roadie for AIDS LifeCycle in 2008 and the inaugural Seismic Challenge, benefiting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. In 2006, she co-founded Ladies Go Biking with Dr. Betty L. Sullivan, a Bay Area group that encourages fun, health, and exercise. She also directed the choir and musical theatre programs at Convent of the Sacred Heart High Schools in San Francisco (2004 - 2007).
Dr. Kathleen McGuire’s achievements pale in contrast to the qualities that make her an admired and respected leader in the arts and in the wider community.
Dr. Kathleen McGuire’s achievements pale in contrast to the qualities that make her an admired and respected leader in the arts and in the wider community.
