About me:
An active composer and performer, Murray Robertson’s musical voice extends itself into far-reaching mediums. As a composer, Murray has written for contemporary settings in solo, chamber, and large ensemble capacities. His electronic works feature field recordings and other sounds processed digitally using computer code, both in fixed media and live electronic formats. In his jazz compositions, his experience playing bass trombone and tuba in groups drive the music’s voice– ensembles like Vaughan Weister’s Famous Jazz Orchestra have given influence through their exposure to the jazz world’s greatest arrangers.
Most recently, the release of Studies in Noise (2024) has put forth field recordings in conjunction with a subtractive synthesis method using the digital processing tool CSound. Using field recordings from his time living in Tallinn, Estonia Murray takes harmonic language from jazz and gregorian chant traditions to manipulate the sounds and noises around us all. Using CSound, tones are drawn directly from the source audio, as if drawing the chords onto the field recordings using an EQ unit.
Performing as a tubist and trombonist, Murray has played side by side with liturgical musicians, theater pit musicians, orchestral musicians, and big band horn players. From the Dublin Silver Band to the Westerville Community Theatre, Murray’s experience as a performer affects all areas of his musicianship.
Murray has a Bachelor’s in Music majoring in Composition from Capital University where he studied with Tony Zilincik and Dr. Dina Lentsner, and spent a semester in Tallinn, Estonia studying with Helena Tulve and Paolo Girol.
This is my official bio, updated as of October 9, 2024. If publishing or copying my bio, please notify me at mwrobertson02@gmail.com.
Murray with Bone Appétit Trombone Quartet, (left to right) Kyson Orick, Gracie Westergaard, and Emma McCalla
Extended Bio
As a Composer...
I started composing seriously in 2020, when I was a senior in high school. The interest bloomed out of– well mainly quarantine boredom. I didn’t compose very often, but as I was debating whether to pursue engineering (my plan up until March 2020) or music, I started to have a different relationship with art and so I experimented more often, trying to write (even if it was horrible). That is where my portfolio for college admissions came from: the desire to try even I was going to fail.
Now, after three years studying under the professors at Capital University: Tony Zilincik (also my tuba professor), Dr. Dina Lentsner, Dr. Nicole Piunno, Dr. Mark Lochstampfor, and Stan Smith, I have been exposed to worlds of music I could have never discovered while isolated in quarantine. I have recently had the great privilege to expand my horizons beyond the U.S., studying classical and electro-acoustic composition in Estonia at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Professors Helena Tulve and Paolo Girol. I am thankful especially to Dr. Dina Lentsner for facilitating the connection between EAMT and Capital Univ., an endeavor that took just about a decade.
You can view my public portfolio on the “Catalogue” page, which includes classical, electroacoustic, and jazz compositions.
Recent performances of my music have been given by the Capital University Saxophone Quartet, the combined Capital Trombone Choir and Capital Thunder, Nathan Shea, and Zakk Jones.
the Capital Trombone Choir and Capital Thunder after performing "Processed Meat Cylinder", November, 2023.
Zakk Jones performing movements 1 and 2 of "Lake Counterpoint", February, 2023.As a Performer...
Since middle school band, I have been in love with the Tuba. Since that point, I have also added the other members of the low brass family to my arsenal of instruments, namely bass trombone and euphonium. However, musical performance for me started much earlier, when my mom signed me up for piano lessons with a family friend. Ever since then, I have loved doing all things music.
I study tuba with Tony Zilinick at Capital University. His experience playing tuba and bass trombone in classical groups, jazz bands, and orchestras (and a cool-ass brass band) have inspired me to pursue all sorts of performance.
While in Columbus I love playing with jazz and commercial groups, as well as university ensembles. Currently, I play E-flat Bass with the Dublin Silver Band. Getting called to play tuba with Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra has been my favorite gig so far as a young professional, as well as performing with the Westerville Community Theater for their production of Oliver. I have been a member of Capital University’s Symphonic Winds on both Tuba and Bass Trombone, as well as the Bass Trombonist with the OtterCap Symphony Orchestra. I have been the bass trombone and tuba player for the Capital University Big Band. During the Christmas and Easter seasons I have played and sang for churches around the Central Ohio region.
The highlight of my performance career was traveling to Vienna, Austria to perform with Dr. Kenneth Ozello and the Honors Performance Series Collegiate Wind Ensemble.
My view from the pit with the Westerville Community theater playing tuba, bass trombone, and euphonium for "Oliver," July, 2023.
Me before performing with the honors performance series collegiate band at the Musikverein in vienna, Austria, July 2022.As an Arranger and Copyist...
One of the things that pushed me into composition was arranging and copying music from piano scores and internet transcriptions for ensembles that my instrument was actually a part of. Playing in the tuba quartet made me realize that not having repertoire was not an issue at all when you could just– make the music yourself! Since then, I have worked as an arranger, transcriber, and copyist/engraver for all sorts of musicians around Central Ohio. I have been a librarian for the Capital University Wind Ensemble Department, covering their collegiate ensembles and youth bands since 2022.
Copying music for groups is something I do quite frequently. For jazz musicians like Zakk Jones and Stan Smith, I produced sets of parts from handwritten scores and computer sketches, giving their ensembles sheet music that allowed rehearsal and performance processes to run smoothly. I have also copied music to transpose it for singers, like when the Capital University Big Band’s vocalist loved an arrangement– but needed it a whole step lower.
As a transcriber, I have done work for Berne Union High School making four part reductions of orchestral audio files for their arranging staff to arrange from. I have also transcribed brass and organ music for Sharon Silleck at St. Mary of the Assumption Basilica in Lancaster, OH when she found out that a composition had never been officially published, but still wanted to perform it.
My arrangements have been mostly played by groups that I am in: tuba quartets at Capital, Capital Thunder, the Capital Trombone Choir, and the Capital University Big Band. However, I publish my arrangements on HalLeonard’s ArrangeMe service; you can find them on Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct.
I love working with directors and musicians, and my experience includes just as much librarian, copyist, and arranger as it does composer and performer.