David Murray, double bass

David Murray was born in Canada and began studies on the double bass at age 12. He worked in high school with Gary Karr and continued with Mr. Karr at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. During summers, Mr. Murray attended the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, A F of M String Congress, and both Tanglewood and Aspen as a fellowship recipient. Upon graduation he received the Outstanding Performer Award from the Hartt School, and later that year was a top prize winner in the Canada Music Competition. Mr. Murray was winner of the Aspen Bass Concerto Competition in 1981, and in 1988 won the International Society of Bassists Competition (for which he is now secretary) in Los Angeles and was presented by the Society in a Carnegie Hall debut in 1990.

Murray has given many solo recitals throughout Canada and the United States, and has given master classes and clinics at such places as Yale University and the Manhattan School of Music. In October of 1992 he gave the world premiere of Yohanan, a concerto by Robert Rohe, in Saint John, Canada. His 1993 debut recording has been heard on radio across Canada and the United States, and in Europe. In 1996, he was invited to be the only American faculty member at the Sorak Festival in South Korea, where he returned in 1997 to give classes and performances. Also in 1996, Murray gave recitals and classes in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as part of the International Bass Conference, as well as in Rio de Janiero. He has also performed in Scotland, Poland, Holland, and Israel.

After 12 years as Instructor of Bass at West Texas A&M University, where he directed the WT Bass Workshop, and as principal bassist with the Amarillo Symphony, Mr. Murray is now associate professor of bass at Butler University, where he also teaches music appreciation courses. He is principal bassist with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, and the Bear Valley Festival (California) during the summer. His second CD, Vocalise, was released in the Spring of 1999 and in 2003, he released a video of theater-type pieces.