About Guest Artist Tai Murray

Since making her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the age of nine, violinist Tai Murray has performed extensively as soloist with orchestras and in recitals across the United States and Europe. Born in Chicago in 1982, she has been heard on such concert stages as Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl, Salt Lake City's Abravanel Hall and Chicago's Orchestra Hall.  Concerto performances include performances with the symphonies of Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Dallas, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Utah, Charlotte, Oakland, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., and many others.  She appeared with the St. Louis Symphony in two consecutive seasons and her April 2004 performance of the Bernstein Serenade with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra elicited the following from the Chicago Tribune: “Violin playing so full of youthful vitality and freshness deserved a huge ovation, and that’s what it got from Thursday’s crowd, as well as from the orchestra members themselves.”

Recent seasons have brought her to numerous debuts with orchestras large and small.  She made her New York concerto debut with the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in May 2002 and her New York recital debut at Merkin Hall in April 2003.  Ms. Murray was invited to perform the Dvorák violin concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra in August 2005 in Berlin.  She opened the Sacramento Philharmonic's 2002-2003 season with a performance of the Korngold Violin Concerto, following which the critic for the Sacramento Bee said, "The soloist in the Korngold Concerto was Tai Murray. . . Murray was up to all its challenges. The ending was brilliantly dynamic; the ovation was instantaneous." In its year-end roundup, the newspaper singled out this performance as the classical concert of the year.   She made her South American debut with the Sibelius Violin Concerto in Caracas in may 2007.

An accomplished chamber musician, Ms. Murray made her third national tour with Musicians from Marlboro in February 2005.  She completed two seasons as member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center II, performs regularly with the Ritz Chamber Players and toured with Peter Serkin, Jaime Laredo and the Brandenburg Ensemble on several occasions. Since 2005 her recital appearances include New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Louisville, Washington, St. Paul, and La Jolla.

Tai Murray has received top prizes in the Indiana University Concerto Competition, the inaugural Sphinx Competition, and the Juilliard School Concerto Competition.  She was also awarded a Certificate of Honor for outstanding musicianship by the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. In 2000 Ms. Murray earned an Artist Diploma in music performance from Indiana University and another Artists Diploma from the Juilliard School in 2006.