Michael Murray

Michael Murray has been described as “a contemporary craftsman-artist of original stripe” whose music is “easy to listen to in the best possible way.” His compositions cover a wide variety of styles and media, but his gift for lyricism is particularly well suited to music for strings and the human voice.

In addition to composing concert music, he has written music for film, theater productions, dance, and visual arts installations. His music appears on Navona and Ansonica Records, and is published by Ars Nova Press. He lives in Springfield MO where he is Professor of Music at Missouri State University. 

Murray is a Hambidge Fellow and has also been artist in residence at Osage Arts Community. He has won awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs. Among his commissions are those from American Wild Ensemble, the Missouri Chamber Players, and the music fraternities of Missouri State University. He earned a B.M. in composition from the Catholic University of America and his M.M. and D.M.A. in composition from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.

Albums

Quadrants Vol. 5

Release Date: March 15, 2024
Catalog Number: NV6602
21st Century
Chamber
String Quartet
The award-winning Benda Quartet assembles on QUADRANTS VOL. 5 to deliver a stunning, razor-sharp collection of contemporary string works. Composers Christopher J. Hoh, Ferdinando DeSena, Christopher Brakel, Michael Murray, and Paul Halley offer a wide range of sounds and emotions in this body of work, ranging from warm, elegant expressions to high-octane passages and more. This Navona Records release is also available as a visual album, filmed at the historic Dul Michal mine in Ostrava, CZ. Eloquent, precise, and hypnotic, QUADRANTS VOL. 5 is a crystal-clear reflection of the musical and technical heights of the string quartet genre.

Passages

Release Date: May 27, 2022
Catalog Number: NV6427
21st Century
Chamber
Orchestral
Orchestra
Piano
Voice
Composer Michael Murray’s album PASSAGES brings the words of iconic 19th and 20th century poets to life through stirring music for solo soprano and instruments. Murray has selected poetry from the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson, William Butler Yeats, William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Walt Whitman, with poems detailing childhood adventure, hope, and tragedy. Celebrated soprano Genevieve Fulks performs throughout; most of the music heard on the album was written specifically with her voice in mind. Murray’s music has been lauded for its meticulously crafted yet ultimately approachable style. Through familiar themes and time-honored poetry, Murray invites listeners to engage with, and even be challenged by, this collection of thoughtful compositions.

Michael Murray: Percipience

Release Date: April 14, 2015
Catalog Number: NV5994
21st Century
Chamber
Vocal Music
Voice
The history of setting literary text in music is a considerable one, from Schubert's Lieder to Benjamin Britten's Serenade to art songs of the 21st century. Composer Michael Murray presents four song cycles on PERCIPIENCE, all of which emphasize the deep connection between poetry and music as varying means of expression that can reveal different facets of the same idea.

Spellbound

Release Date: May 1, 2013
Catalog Number: NV5911
21st Century
Orchestral
Large Ensemble
Orchestra
From mythic origin stories, to the Elizabethan stage, to the modern cinema, the human experience is bound in storytelling that has the power to captivate minds and inspire creativity. Like a good story, the composers featured on SPELLBOUND transport the listener across landscapes only limited by the imagination. These new works for orchestra behave as narrative arches, allowing tension and emotion to build and release to a euphoric conclusion or a haunting realization.

Explore other albums featuring Michael Murray

Coro Del Mundo

Coro Del Mundo

Ansonica Records
Abrazo: The Havana Sessions

Abrazo: The Havana Sessions

Ansonica Records