Robert Murray

Robert P. Murray – Violinist and scholar. Born in South Bend, Robert P. Murray grew up in Southern Wisconsin and graduated from Janesville High School in 1955. With focus on violin performance, he earned a B.A. from the American Conservatory in Chicago and an M.A. and D.M. from Indiana University. In between his graduate degrees, he spent four years in the U.S. Navy, and before beginning a career in academia he was a studio musician in Nashville, playing with Chet Atkins, Eddy Arnold, Floyd Cramer and many others. He has held faculty positions at the University of Northern Colorado, Baylor University, and the Virginia Commonwealth University. At VCU, Murray played in the Smetana Trio with cellist Frantisek Smetana (a relative of Bedrich Smetana). More recently, Murray and VCU colleague Ardyth Lohuis have performed as a violin and pipe organ duo. They have performed throughout the United States and Europe and have released six CDs on the Raven label. Recorded on the Heritage Musical Society label and Uni-pro Division of Spectrum, Murray has recorded the violin sonatas of St. Saens and was the first violinist to record the four violin sonatas of Anton Rubinstein. A champion of contemporary music, Murray, as an undergraduate, premiered the violin sonata by Leo Sowerby.