Dr. Aubrey Maurice Murphy, acclaimed pianist, vocal coach, conductor and accompanist, was raised in Washington, D.C., and received his first music lessons from his father, George Murphy, an accomplished church musician and teacher in his own right. As an adolescent, Dr. Murphy studied piano and music theory at Howard University’s Junior Department of Music. He went on to become the first African-American man to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees in piano performance at the Peabody Conservatory, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in vocal pedagogy and accompanying from the Catholic University of America. During this period, he served in the Army after which he began his teaching career at Coppin State College.
Dr. Murphy was a revered teacher to countless voice students, many of whom went on to win major competitions, and to appear with major opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Houston Grand Opera. He taught at the College of Notre Dame from 1967-72, and he was an associate professor of Fine Arts at Coppin State College from 1971 until his retirement from Coppin in 2007. He taught voice and accompanied the Coppin Choir in many concerts and tours, including an appearance at the White House, and on two tours to South Korea. One of his performances with the Coppin Choir in South Korea was recorded and broadcast on Maryland Public Television in a special entitled Music of the Seoul. In 1996, he received the Vice President for Academic Affairs Achievement Award from Coppin, and in 2002, he performed at Coppin for an audience that included President Bill Clinton.
Hugh Carey worked at Coppin with Maurice for many years. He said, “Maurice was a consummate and extremely talented musician who inspired and brought out the very best in his students and people with whom he worked. I was greatly impressed with his knowledge and abilities, his constant reading of current events and articles that related to the musical arts and his enormous record collection. Maurice was a great friend and colleague whose friendship and memory I will always cherish. “
Dr. Murphy also taught Voice at the Peabody Preparatory School, where he served as the Co-Chairman of the Vocal Studies Department. He served on the faculty of the Baltimore School for the Arts from 1995-2001, and he also taught Voice at Towson State University. He accompanied student and professional singers throughout his long career, including concerts in Baltimore and Washington, and a recital with soprano Margaret Lindsay Johnson at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. Soprano Lauretta Dorsey Young, who has appeared with major opera companies and orchestras around the world said, “Maurice was an excellent teacher, pianist, and dear friend. He brought out the very best in me, and I will always be thankful that he came into my life.”
In addition to his work as a coach/accompanist, Maurice was an accomplished organist and choir director. He was the minister of music at Metropolitan UMC, the director of music at St. James Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, Baltimore, as well as the organist at St. Peter Claver Roman Catholic Church in Upton. His last church music position was at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Wallbrook Junction. Yvette Matthews sang in Maurice’s choirs at St. James and at St. Mary the Virgin. “When I met Maurice, I was happily teaching my first class of second graders in the Baltimore City Public Schools. After singing with him for a year in his choir at St James Episcopal Church, he suggested I start voice lessons with him. He told me to discuss it with my husband because (he said)…’If we go down this road together, your life may change drastically’. He was right. Maurice introduced me to a world of classical music I never knew existed. Under his tutelage I was able to become a working professional musician, singing in seven languages, performing on stages here in the United States, in Canada, Europe and Japan. Among the highlights of my career, I count touring with Houston Grand Opera, 32 performances at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, and 16 performances at La Scala, Milan, Italy. Everything I am musically, I owe to Dr. A. Maurice Murphy.”
Maurice was an experienced choral conductor as well, performing a wide variety of repertoire with choruses large and small. He served as the Music Director of the Bach Society of Baltimore with whom he conducted numerous concerts, and from 1984-2000, he was the Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. In that capacity, he accompanied the Choral Arts Chorus, and played with the Choral Arts Orchestra at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Kraushaar Auditorium, and at many venues throughout the mid-Atlantic region. His friend and colleague at Choral Arts, Tom Hall, recalled their many performances together. “Maurice was a superb artist, a gifted and sensitive accompanist, and a wonderful friend. His playing and his bearing had an unforgettable sense of majesty and dignity. Maurice was a fantastic communicator, in a variety of musical styles, from Gospel Music to Classical Music. His music-making was always imbued with a sense of purpose and passion that he shared expertly, and with phenomenal generosity.”
Dr. Aubrey Maurice Murphy is survived by his brother George Wyndell Murphy, Derek Murphy, a nephew, both from South Orange, N.J.; Andre Murphy, a nephew from Rockville, Md. He is also survived by Jeanine Murphy, a niece from Columbia, Md., a cousin, Barbara Hemstreet of Glenn Dale, and a cousin, Mary Morgan from Laurel, as well as several grandnieces and grandnephews; lifelong friends, James Cox and Andrew Ennis.
A funeral service was be held, 11:30 a.m., Feb. 21, at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 3121 Walbrook Avenue in Baltimore. Musicians from across the region will gather, 4 p.m., April 11, at the Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Bolton Hill for a musical tribute to Maurice Murphy, who was a beloved figure on the local music scene for so many years.
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