Conductor | Composer
Canadian conductor and composer Patrick Murray is a multi-faceted choral artist whose musical work reveals an equal commitment to high-calibre performance, education, and community engagement.
Currently, as Director of Music at Church of St. John the Evangelist (Anglican) in Elora, ON, Murray directs one of Canada’s only fully-professional church choirs. Additionally, Murray serves as Artistic Director of Chor Amica (London, ON), Associate Conductor with the Bach Children’s Chorus (Toronto, ON), and as Director of the University of Toronto Scarborough Concert Choir. In these capacities, Murray works with singers of all ages and abilities to enliven and uplift communities through contemporary expression in the choral arts.
Murray has previously served on choral faculty at Western University and Wilfrid Laurier University, and as a teaching artist with the Oakville Choir for Children and Youth, Canadian Renaissance Music Summer School, and Illinois Summer Youth Music. A passionate advocate for new music, Murray has premiered over thirty new works from the podium in collaboration with ensembles and festivals including the Ad Astra Music Festival (Russell, KS), Guelph Chamber Choir, Illinois Modern Ensemble, New Music New Haven, and FAWN Chamber Creative. Choirs under his direction have been recognized in the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs and been invited to perform at PODIUM, Canada’s national choral conference.
Murray’s compositions have been commissioned and premiered by numerous ensembles in Canada and the United States including New York Polyphony, Carmel Bach Festival, College of the Holy Cross, Metropolitan United Church Choir (Toronto), Summer Institute of Church Music, and others. His works have been recognized by the SOCAN Young Composers Award, recorded by the DaCapo Chamber Choir, and are published by Cypress Choral Music and Renforth Music.
Murray’s academic research focuses on artistic practices of community collaboration in contemporary American choral music, and between 2018-2021 was supported by a SSHRC doctoral research fellowship. Between 2020-2021, Murray ran a volunteer community singing program for the London InterCommunity Health Centre, connecting socially isolated clients through musical experiences throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. He is a graduate of University of Illinois, Yale School of Music, and University of Toronto Faculty of Music. Murray has studied under noted conductors including Andrew Megill, David Hill, Jeffrey Douma, Marguerite Brooks, Ivars Taurins, and Hilary Apfelstadt.
Murray currently divides his time between Canada and the United States with his wife, harpist Noël Wan, and their two tuxedo cats, Georgina and Simone.
