Lorna McGhee biography

Lorna McGhee is principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, appointed by Music Director Manfred Honeck in 2012, now in her tenth season with the orchestra. Hailed as an “outstanding artist” (Der Standard, Austria) Lorna is equally at home in a solo, chamber or orchestral setting. She has performed concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the UK; Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, and Victoria Symphony in Canada; Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, San Luis Obispo Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the USA; Kyushu Symphony in Japan, and Evergreen Symphony in Taipei. Career highlights include a performance of Penderecki’s flute concerto under the baton of the composer, Bach’s B Minor suite with both Yannick Nézet-Seguin and Nicholas McGegan, and the Mozart G major with Manfred Honeck. Upcoming highlights include performances of the Saariaho Flute Concerto entitled “Aile du Songe” with both the Pittsburgh Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra.

As a chamber musician and recitalist, Lorna has performed in Europe, North America, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Australia, in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, London, the Louvre, Paris, the Schubertsaal of Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and the Library of Congress, Washington. She has appeared at festivals such as the Edinburgh International Festival, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Cleveland Chamberfest and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Her performances have been broadcast on NPR, CBC Radio in Canada, BBC Radio 3, Netherlands Radio and ABC (Australia). She has made chamber music recordings for EMI, Decca ASV, Naxos, and Meridian. Her recording for Naxos of Bax’ Chamber Music with the group ‘mobius’ was selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine and received a 5-star rating from BBC Music Magazine. With Duo partner Heidi Krutzen, Lorna has released two CDs on Skylark Music: “Taheke, 20th century Masterpieces for flute and harp” and “Canada, New Works for flute and harp.” As a member of Trio Verlaine (with her husband, violist David Harding and harpist, Heidi Krutzen) Lorna has recorded two CDs: Fin de Siècle, the music by Debussy and Ravel, and Six Departures, featuring works by Bax and Jolivet as well as new commissions by Schafer and Cotton. Lorna’s first recital disc, The Hour of Dreaming with pianist, Piers Lane was released on the ‘Beep’ label in 2014. A new recital CD for Songs without Words with pianist, Naoko Ishibashi was released on the ‘Live Notes’ label in the summer of 2021.

Known for her “exceptionally rich and vibrant tone” (Washington Post) Lorna has performed as guest principal with many of the world’s leading orchestras including Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Before immigrating to North America Lorna was co-principal flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London. Lorna is an Artist Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University, an Altus Flutes Artist and an honorary “Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.” Ms. McGhee last performed as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony in January 2018.

www.lornamcghee.com

Photo credit: Todd Rosenberg