Heidi Grant Murphy

Heidi Grant Murphy distinguished herself as a strong and promising new American singer in the early 1990s. She began studying voice at Western Washington University, and continued at the Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana as a graduate student. While pursuing those studies, she entered the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. When she was named a winner, she left Bloomington to enter the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1989 in Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. Since then she has appeared on the Met stage as Sophie in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Nanetta in Verdi¹s Falstaff, Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Pamina in his Magic Flute, Susanna in his Marriage of Figaro and Sister Constance in Poulenc¹s Dialogues of the Carmelites. She frequently sings at the Salzburg Festival. Besides the Met, she has appeared at the Frankfurt Opera, Netherlands Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Theatre Royale de la Monnaie, and with major American symphony orchestras. She sang the soprano role in the world premiere of David del Tredici¹s “The Spinder and the Fly” with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic, and in Saariaho’s “Chateau de l’ame” with Kent Nagano and the Hallé Orchestra. She is a frequent recitalist and recording artist. She appeared on recordings on several labels, including Deutsche Grammophon ([RoviLink=“MC”]Marriage of Figaro[/RoviLink], Parsifal) and on Telarc (Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and Haydn’s “The Creation.“) She became an exclusive recording artist for Arabesque Records. For them she has recorded a recital disc with her husband, Metropolitan Opera conductor Kevin Murphy, and a pair of Bach Wedding Cantatas. ~ Joseph Stevenson