His dad played a little ukulele and liked to collect sheet music, but that’s about how serious it got for music in Allan McMurray’s home way back when. And yet, the boy had developed a hunger. “I was learning trumpet,” he recalls. “We moved around a lot, and I found that music was a way to make friends.” He would spend time with his dad’s sheet music, connecting his trumpet to the song’s melody lines. “I liked practicing.”
His playing got good enough so that he could jam with a few small ensembles. “Later, I turned professional and was in a brass quintet, and I found I was not afraid to share my views on how a piece should be played. I’d say to them, ‘Why don’t we try it like this?’” The path toward a career as a conductor of winds clearly beckoned. But he was haunted by the memory of his parents’ scoldings.
“They wanted me to be a lawyer,” McMurray says. “For years, I kept hearing the same warning from them: ‘You’ll never amount to anything if you pursue music.’”
In 2013, McMurray retired after 35 years as professor at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music, directing the college’s bands, developing the master’s and doctoral programs in instrumental conducting, hosting the first College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Summer Conducting Symposium and becoming the first in the College of Music to receive a lifetime appointment as a Distinguished Professor.
No reason to stop there. McMurray has guest-conducted in 15 countries, guest-taught at more than 200 universities and conservatories, been keynote speaker at various CBDNA events and—you can catch your breath here—he has just been awarded the University Medal by the CU Board of Regents, one of five individuals to be honored on May 10 at a private ceremony on the Boulder campus.
Now, at age 76, McMurray is truly a man of the world. He continues to travel and work with no sign of slowing down. He’ll be conducting in Canada through April, then in Illinois, finally returning to Boulder early in May to receive his award. “CU will always be a significant part of who I’ve been as a musician,” he noted. “This [University Medal] is a great honor.”
Few in music can boast such an impressive résumé, and few can speak with such modesty and passion for their chosen profession. “My life has been so enriched by music,” he says. “I love working with students.
“You know, the term maestro translates as teacher. When I teach, I dialogue with my students a lot—I ask them about the score we’re working on. I tell them, ‘The score is your friend. Talk to it. Get to know it.’ I tell them that you have to work hard, and if you do, you’ll get closer to where you want to be. Learning is a journey. What’s better than that?”
McMurray bubbles with endless optimism, even in these chaotic times. Amidst all the divisiveness around us, there is a common source of unity, he reminds us. “Everybody loves music—from lullabies for babies to taps at the end, there is music. The world needs music. Life needs music.”
Congratulations on your well-earned distinction, Allan McMurray!
Professor of Conducting Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Allan McMurray was nominated for the University Medal by Dean John Davis and Conducting Area Chair, Professor of Conducting and Director of Bands Donald McKinney; Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Enrollment Management, and Associate Professor of Conducting and Music Education Matthew Roeder; and Professor of Piano and former College of Music Dean Daniel Sher. Also supporting his nomination was alumna Karen Fannin who earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from our College of Music, studying with McMurray; she’s now professor and director of bands at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
