Bill McBirnie

Who is Bill McBirnie?

Bill McBirnie is a jazz and Latin flutist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Bill studied with renowned American flutist, Samuel Baron, Canadian flutist and composer, Robert Aitken, as well as Cuban charanga legend, Richard Egues. McBirnie is known for his excellent technique and he is also recognized as an accomplished improviser, notably in the bebop, swing and Latin idioms as illustrated by his recordings as a sideman with Junior Mance Irakere, Memo Acevedo, Emilie-Claire Barlow and Cache . He has performed with many of Toronto's foremost musicians including as a longstanding and charter member of Bernie Senensky's Moe Koffman Tribute Band.

Here are a few illustrative comments regarding Bill’s work:

"Dear Maestro McBirnie, [This] just blew me away. Great, great playing...Innovative... I have never heard anyone play like this...Great technique and music making. The scales are so even it sounds like he wrote the Taffanel scale book...Bill, when you read this, I have to take my hat off to you. This is great playing by any standard."