Peter McGuire, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra’s first violin section in 2003, last soloed with the Orchestra when he performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto at Inside the Classics concerts in January 2008. Earlier he had been a soloist during Sommerfest 2006, playing works by Kreisler and Massenet under Andrew Litton.

McGuire has performed many chamber works with Orchestra colleagues, including Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, Haydn’s String Quartet in F major, Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Penderecki’s Clarinet Quintet and music by Nino Rota from the films of Federico Fellini, among other works. He played Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 2 at both the 2007 and 2009 Sommerfests.

A native of Mankato, Minnesota, McGuire began studying violin at age four with Patti Tryhus at the Mankato Suzuki School. He continued studies with Charles Gray at St. Olaf College and with Sylvia Rosenberg at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

McGuire has served as associate concertmaster of the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra, first violinist of the Pioneer String Quartet of the Des Moines Symphony, and guest principal second violin of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has performed as guest assistant concertmaster of the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, and in recent years he has played with the Berlin Philharmonic as a substitute musician in concerts and recording sessions. He continues to perform as a recitalist, most recently at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, playing works by Brahms, Beethoven and Franck.