About Thomas Murray -
Thomas Murray, concert organist and recording
artist, is University Organist and Professor of Music
at Yale University, where he teaches and performs
on the renowned Skinner organ in Woolsey Hall. Widely
known for his interpretations of Romantic repertoire
and orchestral transcriptions, his recordings (on JAY,
Gothic, Arkay, Priory and other labels) are highly
acclaimed. High Fidelity has credited him with
"consummate skill and artistry in treating the
organ as a great orchestra" and American Record Guide
said of his newly-released Elgar CD: "Murray's
performance and his handling of the immense resources
of the Woolsey Hall organ are beyond superlatives . . .
the shape of every phrase, the use of every color. . .
could not be more perfect." A California native,
Professor Murray's major teacer in organ was Clarence
Mader. As a young performer he was a first-place winner
of the American Guild of Organists national competition.
He has appeared in recitals and lectures at six national
conventions of the AGO, which named him International
Artist of the Year for 1986. As the recipient of this
award he followed such luminaries as Marie-Claire Alain,
Jean Guillou and Dame Gillian Weir. In 2003 he was named
an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Organists in
England, and in 2005 he was awarded the Gustave Stoeckel
Award for excellence in teaching from the Yale University
School of Music.
His career is increasingly international in scope. His
first performance in Japan came in 1990 with a recital
at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Among his appearances in
Europe have been recitals at the International Congress
of Organists in Cambridge, England, and the Lahti Organ
Festival in Finland, where he also performed with the
Moscow Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared in South
America in two recitals for the Festival Permanente de
Organo de Buenos Aires, and in Australia, where he
presented four solo recitals including a performance on
the fabulous organ at Sydney Town Hall.
At times during his career Professor Murray has also
been active as a choral conductor. Prior to joining the
Yale faculty in 1981 he trained one of the most respected
American choirs of men and boys at St. Paul's Episcopal
Cathedral in Boston. At Yale he directed the University
Choir for five years.
Professor Murray has made numerous recordings on the
AFKA, Gothic, and JAY Labels. A notable release on the
JAY label is a 2-CD set performed on the Newberry
Memorial Organ in Woolsey Hall at Yale University.
This monumental recording includes a varied program of
works by Bach, Mozart, Vaughn Williams, Reger, Hindemith,
Bonnet, Karg-Elert, and Rimsky-Korsakov. Also included
on the disc is a narrated introduction to the organ in
which Mr. Murray leads the listener through the various
departments of the Woolsey Hall organ, and demonstrates
the many tonal colors that are possible on that historic
instrument.