The following press release was sent to the Bloomingtonian:
PRESS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Indiana University Music Professor Otis Murphy honored guest in Naples, Italy during Sax Week in honor of Giuseppe De Matola.
March 22, 2023–During the first edition of the “Sax Week” honoring Giuseppe De Matola in Naples, Italy, professor Otis Murphy of the Indiana Jacobs School of Music has been invited to conduct a Saxophone Masterclass at the music conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, the oldest in Europe, founded in the early 1500s.
The Masterclass will take place from March 29-31, offering students throughout Italy an opportunity to study with an international virtuoso of the sax. The Masterclass is free of charge and open to all. The Masterclass, in collaboration with Yamaha, is promoted and supported by Ann Pizzorusso, companion of the historic Neapolitan saxophonist Giuseppe De Matola.
On March 31, the final night of Sax Week, a celebratory concert for saxophone and guitar will be held in the concert hall of the conservatory and the scholarship recipients will receive their awards.
Prof. Otis Murphy is a saxophonist who began teaching at the age of 28, becoming the youngest teacher in the history of the University of Indiana. Murphy has international experience having performed in more than 25 countries and in major venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium, Merkin Hall (New York City), Casals Hall (Tokyo), Palau de la Musica (Valencia ) and the Muziekgebouw aan het Ij (Amsterdam). He was the winner of numerous awards, including prizes at the Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition in Belgium and the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in France.
He boasts many collaborations and four solo albums and his performances and recordings have always received critical acclaim. His recent performance of Ellen Taafe Zwilich’s Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet with the renowned Pacifica Quartet has garnered rave reviews worldwide. The album Contemporary Voices by Pacifica, a small ensemble in which Murphy plays, won the 2020 Grammy Award for best chamber music performance.
In addition to Indiana University Murphy has taught and given masterclasses in music schools around the world, such as the Paris Conservatory, the Amsterdam Conservatory, the Cologne Academy of Music, the Academy and the Festival
Hamamatsu International Wind Instruments Association, the Royal College of Music in London and many others.
His students have received honors in national and international competitions and are members of leading bands and orchestras.
The Sax Week in Naples, Italy, created by Ann Pizzorusso in memory of her partner, Neapolitan rock ‘n’ roll saxophonist, Giuseppe De Matola. who toured internationally and was a backup musician for many famous Italian singers.
He also studied physics and mathematics at the Federico II University. Always in step with the latest technologies, he had a thousand passions right up to the last moment, from astrophysics to football, being a huge fan of the “Azzurri” the team of his native Naples.
Before his death, it was his wish to help saxophone students with their studies, having suffered much after the Second World War to fulfill their dreams as a musician.
Useful links
www.giuseppedematolasax.com
https://www.giuseppedematolasax.com/Borsadistudio
https://www.sanpietroamajella.it/masterclass-internazionale-di-sassofono-del-m-otis-murphy/
info & contacts
[email protected]
