I’m so excited to be a part of a new NYC summer arts program for middle school students. Lincoln Center and the Department of Education have teamed up to put together a wonderful pilot program this summer. It’s a great team to be a part of - special props to my partner in crime Dr. Daniel Burwasser who was interviewed here!
Celebrating Phil Smith's Legacy
It was an honor to be on stage this week surrounded by so many former teachers, colleagues, and friends as we paid tribute to the 36 year career of Phil Smith upon his retirement as Principal Trumpet from the New York Philharmonic. He’s contributed so much to the trumpet world, and I don’t think I will ever forget the look on his face as he conducted all 54 of us through The Great Gate of Kiev.
Kinhaven Bound!
An early morning run on tour...
Touring as a musician can be tiring sometimes, but then again there are also moments - like during my run this morning - that can be extraordinarily beautiful and invigorating!
The Value of Music →
James Ehnes asks a great question. Why don’t schools ask students to listen to a Beethoven Symphony or Miles Davis in the same way that they demand students study the works of Mark Twain or Shakespeare?
One of the reasons I love my job as a teaching artist at the New York Philharmonic is that I DO get to draw students deeply inside the cannon of great musical literature.
I went to public school, and remember being assigned to read a few Shakespeare plays, a work or two of the ancient Greeks and several of the notable “coming of age” novels of the 20th century.
But never once was I told to listen to a Beethoven symphony. Continue reading the full article.

Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity
If you watch carefully in this video about Holy Trinity’s Bach Vespers series on Sunday evenings you might catch a rare glimpse of me playing Bach’s Magnificat on my baroque trumpet!
A City Comptroller Who Supports the Arts
(via The Brian Lehrer Show: Missing: Arts in Schools - WNYC)
It may be unusual for a city comptroller to show up and speak about public policy in front of an audience full of arts educators, but that’s exactly what NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer did yesterday. He was making a special appearance at Face to Face, the annual conference for arts educators and arts organizations sponsored by the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable. It was inspiring to hear him speak about the importance of investing real money back into arts education programs - especially focusing on putting full-time certified arts teachers back in our public schools. Mr. Stringer had more than just words to back up that vision, he’s done his homework and crunched the numbers too. Read his full report State of the Arts: A Plan to Boost Arts Education in New York City Schools.
New York Philharmonic Coaches Youngsters
I was coaching some great young students from the Harmony program on behalf of the NY Philharmonic when the CBS Evening News decided to show up!
Decoda in South Carolina
I’m particularly proud of the work my colleagues in Decoda are doing this week. Cellist Claire Bryant is leading a team of musicians during a weeklong workshop with inmates at Lee Correctional Facility in South Carolina. It’s truly amazing stuff, and what the video was able to capture is just the tip of the iceberg.
Just finished recording a promo jingle for Radio City Music Hall’s new spring show “Heart and Lights.” Couldn’t ask for better colleagues in Alex Bender and Matt Gasiorowski!
Recording a Jingle
Happy Birthday Colin
My 5th graders at Santa Maria School in the Bronx heard that Colin is celebrating a special birthday soon. We’ve been studying how to compose “variations” in music this year, and so we hope he enjoys this special remixed variation of Happy Birthday just for him!
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra →
It was such a thrill to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 with Orpheus during a live concert at Carnegie Hall last season! Here’s the recording - listen on iTunes.
My New York Philharmonic Debut
Thoroughly enjoyed my debut in front of the New York Philharmonic as a co-host for this year’s School Day Concert. I got to do a little acting, a little playing, some audience interaction - what great fun!
From Our Interactive Performance Tour
This master class is a highlight of our year, and we’re so grateful to the New York Philharmonic for making it possible. One of our young students was so inspired that he asked his trumpet teacher for the day, Paul Murphy, how to join the Philharmonic. Paul told him that musicians do a lot of auditions and are not always successful, so they have to keep trying. That message is exactly what we try to impart to our kids.
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Online Trumpet Lessons →
Call me a luddite, but I’ve been somewhat skeptical of online music lessons when compared to traditional lessons that take place face to face. After all, a virtual teacher can’t play duets with his/her student, hear a true representation of someone’s sound quality, or even get an accurate sense of a student’s rhythm and timing.
But…maybe I’m being too negative. Online lessons are clearly becoming a trend (see this article in the NY Times) and perhaps if both teacher and student are driven to succeed and creative in adapting to the limitations of the technology, there might be a lot to gain.
Instead of being an old curmudgeon about this, I’ve decided to give it the old college try and hang up my virtual shingle to teach trumpet lessons online. I think that the platform might be especially successful for more advanced students and adults. Let me know if you want to give it a try!
Paul
'Boardwalk Empire: Volume 2: Music From the HBO Original Series' | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone →
I only play on a couple of these tracks but had a blast doing it! Rolling Stone’s review…
September 3, 2013On Boardwalk Empire, Prohibition is a time of corruption, violence and really painful cures for gonorrhea, but musically it was a clever and lively era; many of America’s greatest songwriters peaked in the 1920s. On this second volume of Boardwalk songs, a variety of crooners and warblers are paired with the redoubtable revivalists Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. Elvis Costello channels Bing Crosby while whistling like a lark; David Johansen belts through the bootylicious “Strut Miss Lizzie”; and Rufus Wainwright, on the jungle-feverish “Jimbo Jambo,” suavely lusts for a “dark-skinned bimbo.” Even Nucky would smile.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/boardwalk-empire-volume-2-music-from-the-hbo-original-series-20130903#ixzz2zZWaIyCQ
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Thank you Bert!
I can finally check “being introduced by a muppet” off my list of life goals! We were performing as part of an experimental workshop at the 2013 IDC conference this June when Bert introduced Decoda as “…a new cutting edge chamber music collective…” Thank you Bert!
Decoda at IDC 2013
Paul speaking before a special performance of Terry Riley’s “In C” at the 2013 IDC conference. Read more…