American Organist Michael Murray has Died, Aged 81

Murray was the first solo artist to be recorded by the Telarc label and was also the author of several books and periodicals

Born in 1943, in Kokomo, Indiana, Michael Murray attended the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Butler University. Among his mentors included Dorothy Cleveland Hopkins, Haskell Thomson, Mallory Bransford, and Marcel Dupré, with whom he studied in Paris. 

He was the organist at Cleveland’s Shaker Heights Christian Church between 1967 and 1980 and served as its music director from 1970 to 1980. In the 1968/69 season, he made his performance debut in a series of 12 recitals in Cleveland, playing all of Bach’s organ works. He made his European debut in 1972 playing on the Galtus and Garmer van Hagerbeer organ, built in 1642, at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

In 1986, Murray made his New York City debut and recorded numerous organ recitals. He was also the first solo artist to be recorded by the Telarc label, which would release his albums for the next 30 years. 

His discography includes numerous albums such as “An Organ Blaster: The Best of Michael Murray and The Best of Bach” and “Encores à la Française,” among others.

For some of his recordings, he played the organs of St. Bavo’s in Haarlem, St. Ouen in Rouen, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Salisbury Cathedral, and the Royal Albert Hall. 

He also played solo with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony, among other guest appearances. 

Additionally, he hosted a radio program featuring a number of famous composers, wrote for Diapason and The American Organist, and published three books on the masters of the organ, including biographies of Dupré and the musical life of the polymath Albert Schweitzer.

“Murray was one of the youngest generations of Dupré's pupils,” said William J. Gatens in Music & Letters, “and he has written a highly ingratiating biography of the master, drawing from the expected primary and secondary sources as well as his own experiences and conversations.”

From 1994, Murray was on the staff of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, plus served on the advisory board to the Schweitzer Institute for the Humanities. In 2000, he received an honorary doctorate from Ohio State University.

“I'm sorry to learn of the passing of Michael Murray,” posted Christopher Purdy, a host at WOSU Classical 101. “[Murray was an] organist, teacher, librarian and a long time member of the WOSU family. Sadly for me before my time. When I was a record salesman in graduate school I sold stacks of his recordings. I only met him once. He was a gracious man, very humble. And what an artist!”

Our condolences to Mr. Murray’s family, friends, students, and colleagues. A recital performed by him in 2014 can be viewed below.