Otis Murphy
Classical Saxophone
Otis Murphy is in great demand as an international soloist and clinician, having appeared in some 14 countries worldwide including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has made numerous solo appearances at prestigious musical events throughout the world including the Ravenna Music Festival in Italy as a concerto soloist; performances at the 12th and 13th World Saxophone Congresses in Montreal, Quebec, and Minneapolis, Minnesota; a guest soloist appearance with the U.S. Navy Band at the 26th Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium in Washington, D.C.; and as an invited soloist at the 7th British Saxophone Congress in Wales and the Frankfurt International Classical Saxophone Festival in Germany. Mr. Murphy has enjoyed a close relationship with Japan, in particular, having been invited annually since 2001 to present master classes and concerts, and he has been a member of the artist/faculty of the Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy since 2005. His activities in Japan have included a 2009 concert tour that included a DVD production of his recital performance in Tokyo’s Casals Hall, a 2006 concert tour with the Musashino Academia Musicae Wind Ensemble as saxophone soloist that included notable performances in Tokyo’s Opera City Concert Hall and Miyazaki’s Isaac Stern Concert Hall, a charity solo recital for the World Children’s Fund-Japan at the Engakuji Temple in Kamakura and concerts as guest soloist with the Tokyo Sinfonia string orchestra. In 2008, Mr. Murphy was awarded the 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.
Winner of numerous national and international awards including prizes in the Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition in Belgium, the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in France, and the Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition in the United States; Otis Murphy has also appeared in publications such as 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. He has released several recordings, and his latest solo compact disc, Song, has received critical acclaim.
Mr. Murphy currently is Associate Professor of Music (Saxophone) in the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He 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. He resides in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife, Haruko Murphy, and their four children.
