Peter McGuire, who joined the Minnesota Orchestra’s first violin section in 2003 and was named acting first associate concertmaster in fall 2012, has soloed several times with the Orchestra. In 2008 he performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto at Inside the Classics concerts, and at Sommerfest 2006 he played works of 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, Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 2 and music by Nino Rota from the films of Federico Fellini. Following the January 2012 Inside the Classics concerts he performed Greenstein’s At the End of a Really Great Day; the following month he played Ravel’s String Quartet on the Chamber Music at MacPhail series.

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. As a recitalist, he most recently played works of Beethoven, Brahms and Franck at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls.