From Rousseau to Murphy:
The saxophone is passed

By Ryan Piurek

Photo by Paul Martens

Murphy

“My father used to moonlight as a campus policeman for a local college in Georgia,” said the IU School of Music faculty member. “He loved classical music, so every day, after hours, he would go listen to it in the college’s music library.

“One day, he called up my mom and told her to drive me to meet him at the library. I’ll never forget, I opened the door and a record was playing the most amazing, most beautiful sound, a sound I’d never heard before.

“Dad showed me the LP cover. On it, there was a picture of a slender man with wire-rimmed glasses. It was called Eugene Rousseau Plays the Saxophone.”

“I’d started playing saxophone when I was 12,” Murphy recalled. “But it wasn’t until that time that I knew exactly what it was I wanted to do.”

Today, at age 30, Murphy is one of the youngest faculty members in the history of the IU School of Music in Bloomington, and if you talk with many of his colleagues, one of its rising stars. He won Yamaha’s Young Performing Artist Award and a Fulbright grant to study in France with the legendary saxophonist Jean-Yves Fourmeau. He earned a master of music degree from IU in 1998, graduating with the performer’s certificate, the highest honor given to a performer at the institution. His debut compact disk recording, Memories of Dinant, has received critical acclaim. He also has enjoyed international success, capturing second prize in the 1998 Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition in Dinant, Belgium.

But perhaps his greatest achievement thus far has been succeeding the man whose music it was that inspired him to become a professional saxophone player, the man who would one day become his mentor. In the spring of 2000, after 36 years of teaching saxophone at IU, Eugene Rousseau, Distinguished Professor of music, retired and accepted a part-time appointment at the University of Minnesota. Murphy, who studied with Rousseau at IU, joined the School of Music faculty in the fall of 2001.

It was the start of a new era.

“You have to understand that there was only one classical saxophone teacher at this university for 36 years,” Murphy said. “It’s a dream come true. I’m working with people who used to be my teachers, people who, across the board, are the top performers in the entire field.”

Rousseau’s artistry has left many musicians and music lovers in awe. One of the world’s great saxophonists, Rousseau has performed across North America and on five continents since his Carnegie Hall debut in 1965. He gave the first solo saxophone recitals in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London and Amsterdam. He also recorded the first album of solo saxophone with orchestra and the first saxophone recital on CD.

Murphy praises his mentor for helping launch the careers of many classical saxophone players. “Forty years ago, there was not a single institution in this country that offered instruction in classical sax,” he said. “The sax was thought of as a jazz instrument. It had no place in orchestras. Now, thanks in large part to Eugene Rousseau, most college music programs have classical sax.”

Rousseau thinks just as highly of his former student. “He was one of the best,” Rousseau said. That’s high praise considering the list of Rousseau’s former students which includes Kenneth Fischer; Kenneth Tse, the first saxophonist to receive the artist diploma from the IU School of Music; and Thomas Walsh, assistant professor of saxophone and jazz studies at the IU School of Music. Together, Walsh and Murphy run the IU Saxophone Studio.

“No one questions his talent,” Rousseau said. “Otis is a gifted player. He was an outstanding student, and I am very proud of his accomplishments. A rising star is how some members of the (IU School of Music’s faculty) search committee described him. When he came to study with me he already had excellent tools, having studied classical saxophone with internationally renowned Kenneth Fischer. His background was solid.”

Rousseau also praised his student’s ability to adapt to various styles of music. “What are the criteria to be successful in this field? In addition to a generous amount of talent, one needs much experience as both performer and teacher in order to gain credibility as an artist-teacher. One must be able to grasp new concepts and to learn music quickly,” he said.

Like Rousseau, Murphy can be considered a crusader for the classical sax. He has performed and taught classes in countries around the world.

Despite all his travels and accomplishments, Murphy said he stays rooted to the music that first transfixed him when he was a teenage boy. “We should always remember why we play music,” he said. “It’s because we love it, and we enjoy it.”