Creating Music in Southern Oregon

(Ashland, Ore.) – The Southern Oregon University (SOU) Department of Performing Arts is pleased to present Guest Artist: Otis Murphy, saxophone with Haruko Murphy, piano as part of the Southern Oregon Arts and Research (SOAR) symposium at SOU on Wednesday May 16^th at 7:30 pm in the SOU Music Recital Hall.

Otis Murphy joined the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music at the age of 28, becoming one of the youngest faculty members in its history, and where he is currently Associate Professor of Music.  He is in great demand as an international soloist and clinician, having gained wide recognition on four continents: North America (United States and Canada), Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), Asia (Japan, Singapore and Taiwan), and Australia, appearing with orchestras, bands, and chamber groups, and at special events, such as festivals, symposiums, and World Saxophone Congresses.

Mr. Murphy has received numerous awards including prizes in Belgium’s Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition, the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in France, and the Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition in the United States.  His students also have won many awards and earned positions as teachers, soloists, chamber musicians, and members of top U.S. military bands.  Mr. Murphy has released some fifteen recordings including four solo compact discs, and his latest solo release, Summertime, has received critical acclaim.  In addition, he has appeared in publications that include Saxophone Journal in the United States, Vandoren Magazine in France, Japan’s Band Journal, Pipers and The Sax magazines, Clarinet and Saxophone Society Journal in the United Kingdom, and Dolomiten Magazin in Italy.

Mr. Murphy has enjoyed a close relationship with Japan, in particular, having been invited annually since 2001 to present master classes and concerts and having been a member of the artist/faculty of the Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy since 2005.  Mr. Murphy was awarded the 2008 S & R Foundation’s Washington Award and its special Ambassador Award (which the S & R Foundation created especially for Mr. Murphy) in recognition of his contributions to Japanese and American understanding.  He has appeared in Isaac Stern Concert Hall and Tokyo’s Opera City Hall, and his 2009 Japan tour included performances in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai and Toyama, and a DVD was produced from their sold-out concert in Tokyo’s Casals Hall.  In 2011, Mr. Murphy was a guest professor at the Musashino Academy of Music in Tokyo and performed as a guest soloist with the Musashino Academy Wind Ensemble at the Japan Band Clinic.

Mr. Murphy holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, graduating with the Performer’s Certificate, the highest honor given to a performer at this institution; and the Bachelor of Music Education degree, graduating Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Georgia.  In addition, he pursued advanced studies in France under a Fulbright Fellowship for foreign study at the Conservatoire National Régional de Musique in Cergy-Pontoise, earning the Prix de Perfectionnement by a unanimous decision of the jury.  His saxophone teachers include Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Eugene Rousseau, and Kenneth Fischer.  Otis Murphy is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Vandoren Performing Artist, and he is the soprano saxophonist in Solaire Quartet.  Otis resides in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife, Haruko, and their five children.

Tickets for this performance are only $10 for general admission and free for students.  Tickets and season passes may be purchased by calling 541-552-6101, in person in the Music Office Monday through Friday, or at the Music Box Office one hour prior to the performance.  For more information, please visit Southern Oregon University’s Department website at www.sou.edu/music.