David McGuinness is one of the UK’s most versatile keyboard players, working in early music, traditional music, rock and classical. He was the youngest ever graduate of the University of York, and was awarded a PhD at the University of Glasgow for his studies in 16th century English music. He is the director of eclectic early music group Concerto Caledonia, recording seven CDs of Scottish repertoire, and collaborating with artists as diverse as Mark Padmore, the Tiger Lillies, and Daniel Johnston.

David’s regular recital partners include the violinist/fiddler David Greenberg, soprano Katharine Fuge, and the cellist Alison McGillivray. He has recorded two albums of Acadian folk songs with Suzie LeBlanc’s ensemble in Montréal, and guests with the Chris Norman Ensemble in the US. He has appeared as a harpsichord soloist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

His reconstruction of Allan Ramsay’s ballad opera The Gentle Shepherd was performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, and he provided the string arrangements for the album I Trawl the Megahertz by Paddy McAloon, voted by Mojo Magazine one of the 50 most 'out there' albums of all time. He was the featured piano soloist on the soundtrack of Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair, playing the fortepiano apparently played in the movie by Reese Witherspoon, and recently scored an episode of Channel 4's teen drama Skins with his own Debussy playing on a 1920s Steinway.

David is a contributor to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and has given masterclasses at many universities in the US and the UK. In 2007 he produced John Purser’s 50-part history of Scottish music for BBC Radio Scotland, and co-ordinated the station's observance of No Music Day with Bill Drummond. In 2009 he was a Visiting Research Fellow and Wingate Scholar at the University of Edinburgh; from August 2010 he will be Lecturer in Music at the University of Glasgow.

updated 16-May-2010

www.myspace.com/davidmcguinnessmusic