Glasgow-born Edward (Eddie) McGuire studied with James Iliff (RAM 1966-70) and Ingvar Lidholm in Stockholm. He received a British Composers Award in 2003 and has been featured composer at  international festivals including Bath International Guitar Festival, Edinburgh International Harp Festival, Passau Saiten Guitar Festival and International Viola Congress. The BBCSSO Proms performance of  his symphonic poem Calgacus was selected for BBC Music Magazine's CD 'The Very Best of the BBC Orchestras' (1997). Commissions and broadcasts include those from St Magnus Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Lorient Festival, Glasgow Festival Strings, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, NYOS and  BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

           Notable successes are his 3 act ballet Peter Pan (Scottish Ballet; Hong Kong Ballet), opera The Loving of Etain (with librettist Marianne Carey), Auriga (recorded by Alba Brass) and concertos for guitar, trombone, accordion and viola. He writes for and plays with The Whistlebinkies folk group. His work for youth orchestras includes A Glasgow Symphony (NYOS), Double Bass Concerto (GSSO & Alice Durrant) and Prazdnik, a celebration of St Petersburg's 300th anniversary (Edinburgh Youth Orchestra & Evelyn Glennie).

           Recent works include Let the Games Begin (Glasgow Chamber Choir), Three Donne Lyrics (Paisley Abbey Choir / Priory Records) and a Cello Concerto for Robert Irvine and the Broen Ensemble. In 2015 his Symphonies of Galaxies was premiered at University of St Andrews by its New Music Ensemble in collaboration with the Department of Astronomy & Physics. 2016 saw the premiere of Botanic Gardens for Piano40 (4 players at 2 pianos) repeated at the Purcell Room in 2018. 2021 sees a new series of Triptychs - artwork videos by James Cowan to McGuire‘s music presented on You Tube, Instagram and TikTok.

        Both CD collections of his music (on Delphian Records) have achieved 'Editor's Choice' in Gramophone Magazine - Eddie McGuire: Music for Flute, Guitar and Piano (2006) performed by Nancy Ruffer, Abigail James and Dominic Saunders; and Entangled Fortunes (2015), performed by Red Note ensemble.