Sean Murphy draws on a diverse background of saxophone performance, education, and entrepreneurial ventures. He is an active performer, engaging in diverse musical settings that range from solo recitals to orchestral concerts. Sean currently serves as Instructor of Saxophone at Richland College in Dallas, Texas.
Currently, 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 recording projects included the celebrated Teaching Music Through Performance in Band Series, as well as the famed Composer Collections. 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 (Australia), and Les Cahiers Du Saxophone (France).
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 within the Richardson, Allen, Frisco, and McKinney Independent School Districts of Texas recruiting over sixty saxophonists. Sean Murphy is a Selmer Paris performing artist and performs exclusively on Selmer Saxophones.
Sean is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of North Texas where he holds the position of saxophone teaching fellow. He earned his Masters of Music Degree in Saxophone Performance from the University of North Texas, and his Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.