a long biography

Finn McLean is a composer and guitarist from Glasgow, Scotland. Finn’s practice revolves around an embrace of their entire musical life - from starting’s in traditional Scottish music in their Gaelic primary school, teenage angst represented through an electric guitar and bad riffs, to graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying composition and guitar.

Recent compositional work includes a work for solo electric guitar, quartet and track Ted Carried Away representing the relationships we build with instruments when we are by ourselves, a love letter to the enduring brass ‘stab’ Parting Shots and James Joyce Sang and Played Guitar - three miniature songs from Ulysses based on Joyce’s own tenor voice. Finn is interested in representing domesticity in music - the odd, enduring relationships we all build with music when no one else is listening.

Finn studied composition with David Fennessy and classical guitar with Matthew McAllister, during their time at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland they premiered pieces by composers such as Rylan Gleave, Ailie Ormston and Erin Thomson. Finn is dedicated to expanding the classical guitar repertoire and has arranged the music of Orlando Gibbons, Morton Feldman, Jean Sibelius and more for solo guitar.

As an educator, Finn has led and worked on music education programmes for adult amateurs, young people and disabled people. They teach guitar in group and 1-to-1 settings and is passionate about teaching that is both fun and centred around student’s musical interests while providing the skills and versatility to excel in any number of styles.

In addition to their work in classical music, Finn sings in their local Sacred Harp group, tours across the UK and Europe as guitarist in critically acclaimed avant-garde metal band Ashenspire and in August 2025 released In Endless Day - an EP of collaborative whimsical songs, written and recorded with Joe Strike as instrumental duo Watering Can.