Participant Spotlight – Alan Murray

  International Musicians Academy welcomes long time friend Alan Murray.  Maestro Marinescu – Artistic Director – has collaborated with Mr. Murray on several occasions in concerti by Mozart and Saint-Saens.  In Vidin Alan Murray will perform Piano Concerto no. 2 by Saint-Saëns, as well as Chopin 2nd.  

Alan brings to his artistry a very diverse background, as he is a member of the Financial Institutions Group management team at Moody’s Investors Service in New York, where he oversees ratings and quantitative analytics in the Insurance sector, and has over time overseen ratings and research for the Latin America region, in Bermuda and Canada, and in the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions.

He resides in Westchester County, New York with his family, where they also own and operate Galápagos Books, a bookstore specializing in world languages and literature, cultural materials and children’s literature. Mr. Murray holds a degree in physics and languages from Cornell University, where he also received a special University Award for distinguished piano soloist.

Alan Murray has appeared extensively in solo and chamber recitals and as concerto soloist with orchestra. This year marks his sixth consecutive season as soloist in the Moxart Concerto series, with performances of Rachmaninoff’s and Prokofiev’s 2nd, and Bartók’s 1st, piano concertos. Prior season performances comprised those of Bartók (No. 2), Brahms (1&2), Chopin (1), Prokofiev (3), Rachmaninoff (3), Saint-Saëns (4) and Tchaikovsky (1). Mr. Murray’s other 2018 concerto engagements include Saint-Saëns’ and Chopin’s 2nd piano concertos at the music festival in Vidin (Bulgaria) in August, and he returns to the Moxart series in 2019 for performances of Liszt’s Totentanz, Strauss’ Burleske, de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Other engagements this year include a recital series comprising Beethoven’s complete Sonatas for Violin & Piano and for Cello & Piano, and ‘Archduke’ Trio, at the Rivertowns’ Annual Music Tour in New York’s lower Hudson Valley.

 In prior seasons, Mr. Murray presented the Masters Series and Sunrise Series Concerts in the New York area, each comprising the cycles of solo piano music of Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, Ravel and J.S. Bach, as well as Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas and Diabelli Variations and major works of Schubert, Brahms, Liszt, Albéniz (Iberia), Granados (Goyescas), Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. In 2014 Mr. Murray initiated Collectanea, a series of multi-media performances, combining art/poetry/dance-inspired classical piano masterpieces with simultaneous on-stage illuminated displays of paintings, live modern dance and poetry readings. Mr. Murray’s performance repertoire, live concerto and chamber music recordings, upcoming calendar and studio facilities can be found at www.studio-hollywood.com.

Food facts

Bulgarian food is tasty, fresh and hearty. Bulgaria is famous for its quality vegetables and dairy products and its variety of mild spices. Pork and chicken are the most common forms of meat, though seafood, fish and veal dishes are also popular and lamb has a special traditional place in Bulgarian cooking.  On a recent visit to Vidin I had a chance to taste the fresh fish from the Danube – amazing, and less than $5 at a restaurant by the river. 

The photos are from a deli in the center of town.  The chicken with rice or vegetables is at about $1.50/portion, fresh yogurt and fruit $0.90, bean stew $0.25.