Hugh Murphy
Associate Professor of Music
Under the baton of Hugh Murphy, several Purchase Opera productions have been favorably reviewed by the New York Times and Opera News Magazine and named “Best Opera of the Year” by the National Opera Association. He has conducted the Purchase Opera and Purchase Symphony Orchestra in two world-premiere recordings: Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest and Raphaël Lucas‘s Confession, both of which were released by Albany Records. Murphy made his New York City conducting debut in 1995 with Apollo’s Banquet, an ensemble of dancers and musicians that presents acclaimed concerts of 18th-century dance and music. As a vocal coach, his expertise and experience span the vocal repertoire, from the earliest operas to the most recent. His professional clients perform with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, l’Opéra de la Bastille, and the Bayerische Staatsoper.
Hugh Murphy’s responsibilities as a tenured associate professor of music in the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College include coaching voice majors and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in German and French Art Song, and in Operatic Literature and Styles. He has been on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music in New York and a visiting faculty member at the Eastman School of Music. Active internationally as a collaborative pianist, he also serves on the faculty of the “Si Parla Si Canta” Vocal Workshop, held each June in Urbania, Italy.