Ryan T. Murphy
Murphy has both a bachelor's degree in piano and organ performance and pedagogy and a master's degree in choral conducting from Brigham Young University. He holds a doctorate in choral conducting from Boston University. In Boston he conducted six choirs in the Boston area, including two choirs at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music. He was the choral director at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts, a secondary school affiliated with the New England Conservatory.
While a student at BYU, Murphy directed the University Chorale and was assistant director of the Men's Chorus. He has studied under Mack Wilberg, Ronald Staheli, and Ann Howard Jones.
Murphy was the music director of Tuacahn Theatre in St. George, Utah, from 2005 to 2007 and served five seasons as the music director at the Sundance Institute in Provo, Utah. He has also served on the faculty of Snow College.
Murphy grew up in Newtown, Connecticut. As a child he participated in an Episcopal boys’ choir. “We were singing Handel’s Messiah by age 11. The boys’ choir introduced me to a lot of great music at a very young age.”[1] During high school he sang in the choir, even directed one concert when his conductor wasn't able to be there, played in the orchestra for high school productions, and starred in his high school production of "Grease." He started a rock band after high school. He then served a full-time mission to France before he enrolled at BYU.
He and his wife, Jennifer—whom he met in choir at BYU—are the parents of four children.
