Rate My Professor Mark Murray

Mark Murray is an Emeritus Professor of Music within the Arts and Culture faculty at Anderson University, where he taught for 37 years from 1980 until his retirement in May 2017. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University, as well as a Master of Music and a Doctor of Music in music literature and trumpet performance from Indiana University. At Indiana University, he studied under Charles Gorham and Louis Davidson, earned the Performer’s Certificate, and won the Brass Concerto Competition. He performed in the Jazz Ensemble under Domenic Spera and served as first trumpet in the symphony orchestra and opera productions. Prior to Anderson University, Murray taught at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, following completion of his master’s degree. His teaching assignments at Anderson University included Applied Trumpet, Recording Techniques, Orchestration, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Improvisation, Jazz Arranging, Jazz Combo, Music in Society focusing on jazz history, Musical Acoustics, Music, the Arts and Culture, and Critical Thinking Seminar. He also served as coordinator of the Anderson University Recording Studio.

Professor Murray performed as principal trumpet with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years and was a member of the Monument City Brass Quintet and “Rinati.” For over a decade, he contributed as a performer, arranger, and program developer for “Book Readers and Horn Blowers,” a not-for-profit organization delivering books and music to children. He appeared as a soloist with the Duke University Symphony Orchestra, Duke University Wind Symphony, Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, Susquehanna Valley Symphony Orchestra, Anderson Symphony Orchestra, Anderson University Wind Ensemble, Muncie Community Band, and Anderson Community Band. Together with his wife, Michele Murray, a former Associate Professor of Music at Anderson University, he recorded the CD “Slow Waltz for Trumpet and Piano,” featuring compositions by Albinoni, Bach, Debussy, Fauré, Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Peeters, Ravel, and Schubert. He presented clinics and recitals throughout the Midwest and continues performing as a freelance musician with Alpha Brass, a musical outreach of the Anderson First United Methodist Church.