Oxford – After months of scrutiny of over 60 applications, numerous phone and personal interviews and on-campus visits, the Department of Music has a new chair.

Dr. Bruce Murray, Dean and Artistic Administrator of the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina, has accepted the position of Chair of the Miami University Department of Music, it was announced May 4 by Dr. James Lentini, Dean of the School of Fine Arts.

“We are delighted to appoint Dr. Murray as the next chair of the Department of Music,” says Lentini. "He brings to us valuable administrative experience, a performance career as a piano soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist, and a commitment to advancing the mission of the Music Department, School of Fine Arts, and Miami University."

Dr. Murray, whose appointment as chair begins June 1, holds degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and Yale University, where he earned both his M.M. and Ph.D.  From the time he left Yale until he moved to Brevard as full-time administrator, Murray served on the music faculty of the University of Alabama, teaching piano and allied courses. He also served in a variety of administrative roles at Alabama and was Director of the School of Music from 1998 until 2003. He initially joined the faculty at Brevard in 1993 as a member of the artist piano faculty, and even as he fulfils his role as chief administrator, Murray performs regularly at Brevard and continues to teach each summer, primarily in piano literature and other courses. He is also familiar to Brevard audiences as program annotator, pre-concert lecturer, and podcast presenter.

Murray also maintains an active performing career as a pianist and has presented hundreds of concerts as recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestra. Although he plays a broad swath of the standard repertoire, he is known particularly for his performances of Bach, Beethoven, and Liszt, and for his commitment to new music. He has a very healthy resumé in repertoire and world performance, all of which can be viewed online by clicking here.

In addition to his performance, Murray has written scholarly pieces for books and journals, liner notes for recordings, and more than a hundred book reviews for CHOICE. His recordings of the solo piano music of American composer Frederic Goossen are available on the Opus One label. Two compact discs of chamber music with violist Doris Lederer are available on the Centaur label.

Dr. Murray is replacing Dr. Judith Delzell, who is retiring this year after 13 years on the MU campus serving as department chair, Professor of Music Education, and for several years as Associate Provost and Special Assistant to the Provost in the university's upper administration.