Bio

Ewan Murray is a young musician from Teesside and currently a fourth-year organ student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), primarily with Daniel Moult and Nicholas Wearne. As his final project, Ewan organised a ‘Discover the Organ’ half-term holiday event for children in Wolverhampton. In his third year, Ewan spent an invaluable four months in Leipzig, Germany under the ERASMUS scheme. Whilst in Germany, Ewan received tuition on several historical instruments, including in Thomaskirche, Leipzig and St Wenzel, Naumberg, from his professors Martin Schmeding and Nicolas Berndt.

His earliest musical adventures were violin lessons with his mother, but piano lessons with his grandmother proved to be much more successful. Later, under Barbara White PGRNCM, he achieved diplomas in both piano performance and piano teaching. He also became an accomplished trumpet player, holding the position of principal trumpet in Tees Valley Youth Orchestra for a time. Whilst at Egglescliffe Sixth Form, he had the opportunity to perform in a variety of ensembles and performed at venues such as Birmingham Symphony Hall and the cathedrals of Durham and Ely.

Ewan began studying organ with Alan Barber LTCL in 2015, later also travelling for lessons with David Pipe at Leeds Cathedral. Between 2017-2020, he held the post of organist and choirmaster at Christ Church, Great Ayton and worked as an accompanist for several choirs on Teesside. Since moving to Birmingham in September 2021, Ewan has enjoyed working as Senior Organ Scholar at St Alphege, Solihull and more recently as organist of Shirley Parish Church.

Folk is also a big part of Ewan’s musical output. Bluegrass music around campfires on the North Yorkshire Moors are core memories from his childhood. He began learning the banjo, aged ten, to join in with his family and family friends. Ewan has since performed in numerous concerts, festivals, and even featured on BBC 1 playing a restored banjo on “The Repair Shop”. He currently plays with Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble, touring extensively each Summer, as well as with his five-piece, Underway.

Image captured by Luke Harrison: Conservatoire Folk Ensemble perform at Jazz Sous Les Pommiers, France 2023