Keith Murphy

The music of composer Keith Murphy has been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, the Yale Philharmonia, Trio Eos, Fire Wire, the Melange Chamber Players, and by bassoonist Peter Kolkay, a Concert Artists Guild winner, among others. He has received honors from ASCAP, Yale University, the University of Chicago, and the European-American Musical Alliance. He recently received the D.M.A. from Yale University in January of 2008 and holds a B.A. in Music with Honors from the University of Chicago and an M.M. and M.M.A. in Composition from the Yale School of Music. His composition teachers include Martin Bresnick, Joseph Schwantner, Ezra Laderman, and John Eaton. Now living in the Chicago area, Mr. Murphy served for the last four years as a Visiting Instructor at Kalamazoo College, where he taught Composition, established the Society for Unusual Music, and lectured on Twentieth-century music, American music, and World music. He has also taught courses in music theory at Western Michigan University, served as a Teaching Fellow at the Yale University Department of Music, and currently serves on the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Recent composition projects include Maathras, a work for string orchestra and mridangam (a South Indian drum) featuring percussion virtuoso Rohan Krishnamurthy, written on a commission from Dr. Barry Ross and the Kalamazoo College and Community Orchestra. His Two Meditations for clarinet, cello, and piano was premiered in November, 2006 with the help of an Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Grant through the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo. Other recent projects include duo music for Rohan Krishnamurthy and violin soloist Ayano Ninomiya (an Astral artist) performed at the Detroit Insitute of Art, Hope College, and Valparaiso University, and music for alto saxophone and piano commissioned by Henning Schröder, who performed the work at the North American Saxophone Alliance's International Biennial Conference at the University of South Carolina. Most recently, he has completed music for saxophone quartet on a commission from the Illini Saxophone Club and music for the award-winning new music ensemble Opus 21. He is currently working to fulfill a commission from bassist Anders Dahlberg.

Mr. Murphy has also been active as a tenor vocalist in numerous ensembles including the Christ Church Choir, a professional chamber choir at Christ Church, New Haven, and served for two seasons as tenor section leader and occasional soloist with the Kalamazoo Bach Festival Chorus. He now sings with the Rockefeller Chapel Choir at the University of Chicago, and will join the Chicago Symphony Chorus in their 2009-2010 season.

Compositions
Maathras
Maathras.mp3 - complete
A piece inspired by Carnatic (South Indian Classical) music, Maathras features percussion prodigy Rohan Krishnamurthy playing the mridangam (a double-headed tuned drum) accompanied by a quintet of Western strings.
From the Melting Pot -- 1. Irving Park
From the Melting Pot -- 1. Irving Park.mp3 - complete
The first movement of a three-movement work for alto saxophone and piano, Irving Park bears the name of the Chicago neighborhood in which it was written. Saxophonist Henning Schroeder commissioned the work and plays here with pianist Yu-Lien The.

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©2009 by Keith Murphy
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Keith Murphy is a member of Society of Composers, Inc. SCI is dedicated to the promotion of composition, performance, understanding and dissemination of new and contemporary music.