The Irish violinist, who led numerous prominent orchestras worldwide, was 60
Aubrey Murphy, a former concertmaster for the orchestra of Opera Australia, died in London on 1 July 2025, following a short illness. He was 60.
Murphy was born in Dublin, Ireland on 28 May 1965. He began playing piano and violin at the age of five, and became the first Irish student to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School at age ten. There, he studied under Felix Andrievsky, Peter Norris and Hans Keller.
He continued his studies at Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with Franco Gulli, Henryk Kowalski, Josef Gingold and Rostislav Dubinsky.
Following his studies, Murphy performed as guest leader with Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra. He worked with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, as principal violinist and regular guest conductor, working with conductors including Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, Charles Mackerras and Colin Davis. He was a a founding member of the Soloists of the Royal Opera House in 1993.
Murphy was appointed as concertmaster for the orchestra of Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House in 2002, under the direction of Simone Young. He led the orchestra under Young, as well as Richard Hickox, and the Australian Ballet’s Nicolette Fraillon.
In 2002, he founded the Utzon Ensemble, which performed at the inaugural concert in the newly refurbished Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House, as well as regular chamber music concerts in Sydney from 2002 to 2008.
Murphy held the the Opera Australia concertmaster role until 2012, performing a wide repertoire including he works of Verdi, Puccini, and Mozart to productions such as Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Salome, and Lulu, Dvořák’s Rusalka, and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. After his departure, he returned on several occasions, most notably to lead Wagner’s Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung in Opera Australia’s 2013 Ring Cycle.
He relocated to northeast Ohio in 2015 where he began teaching, coaching and performing in the area. He became concertmaster of the Cleveland Opera Theater in 2018.
Opera Australia commented on Murphy’s death on social media, saying: ’He was an exceptional musician, a friend, and a mentor to many in the orchestra today, and will be deeply missed.’
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