John McGuire was born in Artesia, California in 1942. After his initial studies in composition in California and his work with Penderecki and Stockhausen in Germany his emphasis in composition gradually evolved into a search for a synthesis of the minimalism that had appeared in his native California in the 1960s and the generalized serialism with which he had become acquainted during his studies in Germany, principally through Stockhausen. His work over the next 25 years was devoted entirely to the exploration and development of various aspects of this synthesis, in particular the fusion of elemental tonal functions with chromatic time structures.
John McGuire was born in Artesia, California in 1942. After his initial studies in composition in California and his work with Penderecki and Stockhausen in Germany his emphasis in composition gradually evolved into a search for a synthesis of the minimalism that had appeared in his native California in the 1960s and the generalized serialism with which he had become acquainted during his studies in Germany, principally through Stockhausen. His work over the next 25 years was devoted entirely to the exploration and development of various aspects of this synthesis, in particular the fusion of elemental tonal functions with chromatic time structures.