Maurice Murphy

Who was Maurice Murphy?

Maurice Harrison Murphy MBE was a British musician who was Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 2007.

He was born in Hammersmith in 1935. He grew up playing in brass bands in Yorkshire, and notably was Principal Cornet of the world famous Black Dyke Mills Band from 1956 to 1961. His transition from brass bands to orchestral work was helped with stints with the Hallé, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and La Mer [? surely Lemare ?] Orchestra. He held the position of Principal Trumpet with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra from 1961 and in 1977 joined the London Symphony Orchestra as Principal Trumpet, a position he held for 30 years until his retirement in 2007.

Murphy can be heard on film soundtracks including all six Star Wars films, Superman: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gangs of New York, Johnny English, Reign of Fire, a solo in Mr. Holland’s Opus, Philadelphia, Batman, the Alien movies, Frankenstein, Gladiator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, We Were Soldiers and many more.

Maurice Murphy officially retired from the orchestra on 16 October 2000 but continually had his contract renewed between then and his real retirement on 3 June 2007. His last concert as principal trumpet of the LSO was in a performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, conducted by Richard Hickox.