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Accordionist
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The emergence of the classical accordion as a recognised and
respected instrument on the UK concert platform is due in no small
part to the efforts and achievements of Owen Murray who has
single-handedly pioneered an awareness and enthusiasm for the
instrument in the classical music world. Overcoming unfamiliarity
and negative attitudes, he has not flinched from his committed
campaign to raise the instrument's status. He has inspired not only
a new generation of young performers but has also commissioned a
considerable body of works from British composers.
Born in Scotland, Owen Murray studied with Mogens Ellegaard at the
Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He graduated in 1982
and returned to Gt. Britain where he campaigned, through his playing
and teaching, for the acceptance of the accordion at conservatory
level. In 1986 he was invited by the Royal
Academy of Music to establish an
accordion department, and appointed professor - the first
appointement of its kind in the U.K. Under his dedicated tutelage, a
distinguished line of young players has contributed significantly to
the accordion's continuing development, many of his students winning
prestigious competitions and embarking on successful careers
themselves. The conferment of an HonRAM
(Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music) in 1993 -
the Academy's highest honour ( other recipients were
Itzhak Perlman, Alfred Schnittke and Leonard Slatkin)
is testimony enough to Owen Murray´s success on the concert
platform and pays tribute to the success with which he has fully
integrated the accordion into the life and work of one of the worlds
leading music conservatories. Past recipients of the HonRAM have
included Vladimir Ashkenhazy, Mstislav
Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim, Yehudi Menuhin, Claudio Abbado,
Pablo Casals, José Carreras and Olivier Messiaen. |
| Owen Murray has performed with many leading orchestras
including the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis, Mark
Elder, ( 1998 Proms.) Martyn Brabbins and Jiri Belohlavek. The City
of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. The BBC
National Orchestra of Wales. The London Philharmonic Orchestra. The
Glyndebourne Opera Touring Orchestra under Elgarth Howarth. The
Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The SWF Sinfonieorchestra Baden-Baden.
The Goldberg Ensemble(Manchester). The Paragon Ensemble (Glasgow)
and the Royal Academy of Music Orchestra under Lynn Harrell. |
| Owen Murray has performed at many leading festivals including
the Edinburgh international festival, the BBC Proms. (twice), the
Huddersfield contemporary music festival, the St. Magnus festival,
the Glyndebourne opera summer festival, the Paris autumn festival,
the Salzburg international festival and the Beijing international
accordion festival. JURIES Owen Murray has been on the jury at the
Klingenthal, Coupe Mondiale, Pula, Beijing and Moscow international
accordion competitions. |
| Among his first performances have been the premiers of the
concertos by John Webb, Edward McGuire, John McLeod and numerous
solo works. The UK premier of Astor Piazzolla's Tres Tangos and
Concerto for guitar and bandoneon. He has also performed the
accordion part in the UK premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's opera
The Last Supper and the world premieres of Sofia Gubaidulina's
Figures of Time and Per Nørgaard's Terrains Vagues. |
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"Owen Murray´s playing of the instrument was poetically
poised and dramatically gutsy….captivating." The Times (Gubaidulina's
Seven Words. St John Smith's Square, London)
" A revelation!" Sunday Standard (Glasgow
Mayfest International Festival)
" Not only a formidable instrumental technique, but also the
rare quality of a gentle and intensely musical approach---a degree
of musical and technical accomplishment which was never short of
breathtaking." Edinburgh Evening News (Edinburgh
International Festival)
" Unquestionably the finest player and teacher in Britain.
Can be compared to Segovia for his supreme virtuosity and also for
his success in demonstrating the great potential of an undervalued
instrument." The Times (St. Magnus
Festival, Orkney)
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