Dr. Sean Murphy draws on a diverse background of saxophone performance, music education, and entrepreneurial ventures. He engages in varied musical settings that range from solo recitals to orchestral concerts, where his performances have been described as “truly beautiful” by Jamie Bernstein. Sean currently serves as Assistant Professor of Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music in Cleveland, Ohio.
As a performer, Sean is a saxophonist on call with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. While at North Texas he performed and recorded with the internationally acclaimed North Texas Wind Symphony, under the direction of Eugene Migliaro Corporon. These numerous projects included the celebrated Teaching Music Through Performance in Band Series, the famed Composer Collections, and other Grammy nominated recordings. As a chamber musician, he was a semifinalist in the North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition and a quarter finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. As a soloist, Sean has commissioned new music for saxophone by numerous leading composers including David Maslanka, David Biedenbender, Eric Moe, Kit Turnbull, and Stephen Barr. He was named the winner of the Slippery Rock University Concerto Competition, and has performed numerous solo tours throughout universities in both Texas and Oklahoma.
His articles on saxophone pedagogy and performance have been published in numerous distinguished music magazines and journals throughout the world such as: The Instrumentalist, The Saxophone Journal, School Band and Orchestra Magazine, Jazz Ed Magazine, Teaching Music, Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain Magazine, Canadian Music Educator, Viento (Spain), Clasax (
In addition to performing, Sean engages in various entrepreneurial ventures. He is the founder of Murphy Music Press, a publishing company dedicated to music for winds, and Music Studio Teacher, an educational blog resource for private lesson teachers. He also created his own private saxophone studio throughout the Dallas area. Sean Murphy is a Selmer Paris performing artist and performs exclusively on Selmer Saxophones.
Sean holds his DMA and MM from the University of North Texas, where he studied saxophone with Eric Nestler and music entrepreneurship with Fabiana Claure. His BME is from Slippery Rock University, where he was a student of Jason Kush.