Multi-award-winning composer, conductor, and improviser Olivia Murphy has established herself as an innovative, creative and colourful artist working primarily in large-ensemble jazz. The 18-piece Olivia Murphy Jazz Orchestra was established with the support of the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award in 2021 and has since gone on to perform sold out performances across the UK, and release its debut EP, Somewhere, Not So Far Away, which was recorded live at Birmingham Symphony Hall. She is regularly commissioned to write and arrange new works for large and small ensemble forces in jazz, contemporary classical, and educational settings and loves to be collaborative and open-minded in all of her work.
Olivia first joined NYJO over ten years ago; it was her first introduction to jazz, playing with the (then-called) Academy Big Band and NYJO London. A jazz degree and many years later, in 2020, she rejoined NYJO as the composer-in-residence and arranged the music for a 20-date UK tour, celebrating the life and music of Amy Winehouse. She now enjoys directing the Under-18s band, and is very excited and honoured to be part of the team of Resident Musical Directors.
