Heidi Grant Murphy Soprano
A shimmering soprano with enchanting stage presence, Heidi Grant Murphy is one of the outstanding vocal talents of her generation. A native of Bellingham, Washington, she began vocal studies while attending Western Washington and Indiana Universities. Her graduate studies were interrupted when she was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and engaged by Maestro James Levine to participate in the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Today, Ms. Murphy has established a reputation not only for her radiant musicianship and impeccable vocal technique, but also for her warm personality and generosity of spirit.
Heidi Grant Murphy has appeared with many of the world's finest opera companies and symphony orchestras, notably the Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, Frankfurt Opera, Netherlands Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Opera National de Paris and Santa Fe Opera. She has been engaged as soloist with the Vienna, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics; Cleveland, Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras; and Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Atlanta, Saint Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Montreal, National and Dallas Symphonies. Ms. Murphy has worked with such esteemed conductors as Roberto Abbado, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach, James Levine, Reinbert de Leeuw, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, Jeffery Tate, Michael Tilson Thomas, Edo de Waart, Christoph von Dohnányi, David Zinman, Bernard Haitink, Pinchas Zukerman and the late Robert Shaw.
Heidi Grant Murphy began the 2010-2011 season with an appearance at the 2010 League of American Orchestras Conference, performing Golijov's Three Songs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Robert Spano. Other summer appearances included the Minnesota Orchestra with Andrew Litton —performing Mahler Symphony No. 4—and two recitals at Bellingham Festival of Music, one with her husband and pianist Kevin Murphy and cellist Joshua Roman. Orchestral engagements see Ms. Murphy performing Haydn's Creation with The Florida Orchestra and Stefan Sanderling, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Omaha Symphony and Thomas Wilkins, Handel's Messiah with Columbus Symphony and Ronald Jenkins and Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel with San Diego Symphony and Jahja Ling. Conspirare in Austin, Texas welcomes Ms. Murphy for a performance of Roberto Sierra's Missa Latina, a work she premiered throughout the United States and recorded with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. International appearances include Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Bergen Philharmonic and Andrew Litton, and a selection of Mozart a rias at Champs Elysées with Ensemble Orchestrale de Paris.
The 2009-2010 season marked the 20th anniversary of Ms. Murphy's Metropolitan Opera debut in the 1989 production of Die Frau Ohne Schatten, which has since led to numerous roles in that prestigious opera house, notably Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Servilia in Clemenza di Tito and Nanetta in Falstaff. European highlights have included the roles of Anne Truelove in the Netherlands' Opera production of The Rake's Progress and Celia in Lucio Silla at both the Salzburg Festival and Frankfurt Opera; and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Adina in L'Elisir d'Amor and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at the Opera Nationale de Paris.
Heidi Grant Murphy's latest recording, Lullabies & Nightsongs, based on the children's book illustrated by Maurice Sendak, was released in September 2009 on Koch International. Her numerous other recordings span many genres, and include Mahler Symphony No. 4 and August Read Thomas’s Gathering Paradise both with the New York Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel on New World; an XM Satellite Radio compilation of Sondheim classics; The Gifts of Christmas, Times Like This, Dreamscape: Lullabies from Around the World, and Sir John Tavener's To a Child Dancing in the Wind paired with Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Sappho Fragments, all on Koch Records. For the Deutsche Grammophon label, Ms. Murphy has recorded Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri with the Staatskapelle Dresden, as well as Idomeneo (Ilia) and Le Nozze di Figaro (Barbarina) both conducted by James Levine. Additional recording projects include Vincent Youmans's Through the Years for PS Classics; Twilight and Innocence, a recital disc for Arabesque; Bach C antatas for Arabesque; Hansel and Gretel (Gretel) with Andreas Delfs and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; and the Grammy-nominated Sweeney Todd (Johanna) for the New York Philharmonic's private label.
She has been a featured guest on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, A&E's Breakfast with the Arts and BBC Radio 3. In October 2005, Ms. Murphy received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Western Washington University, where she pursued a bachelor's degree in music performance.
Heidi Grant Murphy lives in New York City with her husband Kevin Murphy and their four children.
