Kathleen McGuire - founder and conductor of Australia’s first all-women orchestra in 1990 - began her tenure with CWO in August 2005. She has conducted major orchestral, choral and operatic projects in Australia, England and the United States, and earned a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Colorado (Boulder), and a Master of Music Degree with Distinction from the University of Surrey (England). Dr. McGuire has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellowship, and she was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honors Society, and she was appointed Grand Marshal of SF Pride in 2006.  Dr. McGuire is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in the World.

In addition to her work with CWO, Dr. McGuire has served as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus since 2000 (with whom CWO has performed on a number of occasions, and will again in December 2008 at Davies Symphony Hall).  Other recent credits include The Women’s Philharmonic, Goat Hall Productions, the Empyrean Ensemble, Sacramento Ballet and Opera by the Bay (Sausalito). She has conducted at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Sydney Opera House, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, Jay Pitzker Pavilion and Salle Wilfrid Pelletier in Montreal. In July 2006, she directed the Festival Choir at the Opening Ceremony of the Gay Games at Soldier Field in Chicago for an audience of 30,000, with pre-recorded music performed by CWO. She is a published composer, arranger and musicologist and is sought after as a guest conductor and clinician.