Kelly-Marie Murphy was born on a NATO base in Sardegna, Italy and grew up on Armed Forces bases all across Canada. She began her studies in composition at the University of Calgary and later received a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Leeds in England. After living and working for many years in the Washington D.C. area where she was designated "an alien of extraordinary ability" by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, she is now based in Ottawa.
In addition to many academic scholarships awarded in Canada and England, Dr. Murphy has also won prizes for her music. She was awarded first prize in the New Works Calgary Composer's Competition in 1992; was shortlisted for the Cornelius Cardew Composition Prize, and was awarded first prize in the Bradford Young Composer's Competition for Electro-Acoustic Music in Dance in 1993; won first prize and the People's Choice Award at the CBC Young Composer's Competition in 1994 (string quartet category); received 2 honorable mentions in the New Music Concerts competition in 1995; earned fifth place at the International Rostrum of Composers in Paris in 1996 for her first orchestra piece, From the Drum Comes a Thundering Beat…, was awarded first and second prizes in the Maryland Composer's Competition at Loyola College in Baltimore, 1998; won third place in the Alexander Zemlinsky Prize for Composition in 1999 for her work, Utterances; won first prize in the International Horn Society's Composer's Competition, 2001, for her work, Departures and Deviations; and in 2003 won first prize for her harp concerto, And Then At Night I Paint the Stars in the Centara Corporation New Music Festival Composer's Competition.
Dr. Murphy has completed short residencies at the Snowbird Institute for the Arts, Utah; Tapestry Music Theatre/Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; rESOund Festival of Contemporary Music, Edmonton; Strings of the Future International String Quartet Festival, Ottawa; Soundstreams/Encounters, Toronto; and at the Banff Centre for the Arts. In 2004 Dr. Murphy was honored with The Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Calgary, and in 2005 as the Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition from the University of Toronto. Most recently, Dr. Murphy was granted the distinction of Honorable Mention in the 2008 Barlow Prize for composition.
Dr. Murphy's music has been performed in the UK, Japan, across Europe and North America by outstanding soloists and ensembles, and has had radio broadcasts in 22 countries. Her music has been interpreted by renowned conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, David Brophy, and Mario Bernardi. She is the recipient of many commissions from the CBC and the Canada Council for the Arts, and has written for some of Canada's leading performers and ensembles such as the Winnipeg, Toronto, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, Shauna Rolston, James Campbell, the Gryphon Trio, Borealis String Quartet, Rivka Golani, Judy Loman, and James Sommerville.
Kelly-Marie Murphy
Biography
Kelly-Marie Murphy was born on a NATO base in Sardegna, Italy and grew up on Armed Forces bases all across Canada. She began her studies in composition at the University of Calgary and later received a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Leeds in England. After living and working for many years in the Washington D.C. area where she was designated "an alien of extraordinary ability" by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, she is now based in Ottawa.In addition to many academic scholarships awarded in Canada and England, Dr. Murphy has also won prizes for her music. She was awarded first prize in the New Works Calgary Composer's Competition in 1992; was shortlisted for the Cornelius Cardew Composition Prize, and was awarded first prize in the Bradford Young Composer's Competition for Electro-Acoustic Music in Dance in 1993; won first prize and the People's Choice Award at the CBC Young Composer's Competition in 1994 (string quartet category); received 2 honorable mentions in the New Music Concerts competition in 1995; earned fifth place at the International Rostrum of Composers in Paris in 1996 for her first orchestra piece, From the Drum Comes a Thundering Beat…, was awarded first and second prizes in the Maryland Composer's Competition at Loyola College in Baltimore, 1998; won third place in the Alexander Zemlinsky Prize for Composition in 1999 for her work, Utterances; won first prize in the International Horn Society's Composer's Competition, 2001, for her work, Departures and Deviations; and in 2003 won first prize for her harp concerto, And Then At Night I Paint the Stars in the Centara Corporation New Music Festival Composer's Competition.
Dr. Murphy has completed short residencies at the Snowbird Institute for the Arts, Utah; Tapestry Music Theatre/Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; rESOund Festival of Contemporary Music, Edmonton; Strings of the Future International String Quartet Festival, Ottawa; Soundstreams/Encounters, Toronto; and at the Banff Centre for the Arts. In 2004 Dr. Murphy was honored with The Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Calgary, and in 2005 as the Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition from the University of Toronto. Most recently, Dr. Murphy was granted the distinction of Honorable Mention in the 2008 Barlow Prize for composition.
Dr. Murphy's music has been performed in the UK, Japan, across Europe and North America by outstanding soloists and ensembles, and has had radio broadcasts in 22 countries. Her music has been interpreted by renowned conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, David Brophy, and Mario Bernardi. She is the recipient of many commissions from the CBC and the Canada Council for the Arts, and has written for some of Canada's leading performers and ensembles such as the Winnipeg, Toronto, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, Shauna Rolston, James Campbell, the Gryphon Trio, Borealis String Quartet, Rivka Golani, Judy Loman, and James Sommerville.