Give Now  »

WFIU's October Artists: Kevin Murphy And Heidi Grant Murphy

WFIU's artists for the month of October are Kevin Murphy and Heidi Grant Murphy. They joined the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music this fall as a professor of practice and an adjunct professor of practice, respectively.

A native of Syracuse, New York, Kevin Murphy received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a master's of Music in Piano Accompaniment from the Curtis Institute.

In 1992, he was the first pianist invited by James Levine to participate in the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Until recently, Murphy served as the director of Music Administration at the New York City Opera.

In addition to his on- and off-stage partnership with Heidi Grant Murphy, he has collaborated in concert and recital with many of today's leading artists, including Michelle De Young, Bejun Mehta, Gary Lakes, Nathan Gunn, Olaf Bär, Bryn Terfel, Marcelo Alvarez, Placido Domingo, and Frederica von Stade. He has appeared on The Today Show with soprano Renée Fleming, Good Morning America with soprano Cecilia Bartoli, and The Tonight Show with Gary Lakes.

Murphy has played continuo harpsichord with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in productions of Cosi fan Tutte, La Cenerentola, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, La clemenza di Tito and Idomeneo. He has been musical assistant and played continuo harpsichord for the Seiji Ozawa Opera Project in Japan, at the Tanglewood Music Festival and Verbier for James Levine, and worked with Esa-Pekka Salonnen at La Jolla's SummerFest. He is also a regular adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Heidi Grant Murphy is a native of Bellingham, Washington. She began vocal studies while attending Western Washington and continued her studies at IU. Her graduate studies were interrupted when she was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and engaged by James Levine to participate in the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Murphy has appeared with most of the world's finest opera companies and symphony orchestras and has a close working relationship with many of the world's most esteemed conductors.

Her latest recording, Lullabies and Nightsongs, is based on the children's book illustrated by Maurice Sendak. With Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic, she appears on a live recording of Mahler's fourth symphony and a separate recording of Augusta Read Thomas's Gathering Paradise on New World.

Additional recordings by Heidi Grant Murphy include Roberto Sierra's Missa Latina with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Grammy-nominated Sweeney Todd (Johanna) for the New York Philharmonic's private label. She has recorded Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri with the Staatskapelle Dresden as well as Idomeneo (Ilia) and Le Nozze di Figaro (Barberina), both conducted by James Levine.

WFIU will feature music performed by Kevin Murphy and Heidi Grant Murphy throughout the month of October.

Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From