Simon Francis Murphy (born 26 August 1973) is a Dutch-based, Australian conductor and viola player with a focus on the music of the 18th and early 19th centuries.
In particular, he has focused on 18th-century composers Joseph Schmitt "The Dutch Haydn" and Francesco Zappa, making the first CD recordings and new editions of their symphonic works.
[citation needed] Murphy moved to the Netherlands in 1996, where he studied baroque viola with Alda Stuurop at the Utrechts Conservatorium (between 1996 and 1999) and performed with Frans Brüggen and Gustav Leonhardt in ensembles such as The Orchestra of the 18th-century.
At home, Murphy's performances in the low countries have included cycles of Stamitz,[10] Mozart,[11] Haydn,[12] Beethoven[13] and Mendelssohn symphonies for Dutch radio at Amsterdam's Het Concertgebouw, Rotterdam's De Doelen, Utrecht's Vredenburg and The Hague's Philipszaal.
[14] Murphy's discography includes world première presentations of works of 18th-century symphonists Stamitz, Richter, Abel, Reichardt, Schmitt ("The Dutch Haydn"), Graaf [nl], Schwindl [de] and Zappa.
It was voted by Dutch national radio as one of the top 5 highlights in the 30-year history of the festival[15] and was reviewed by the BBC Music Magazine as "the best of both worlds ... the NDA is a big band playing on period instruments".
Classical Glitterati" (2019), features Murphy performing the Viola Concerto in E-flat by Zelter in the double role of soloist/conductor alongside first recordings of symphonies by Abel and Reichardt.
For the visit of the Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to Italy in 2004, Murphy was chosen to programme and conduct the Royal Command Performance given in Rome's Palazzo Quirinale, broadcast live on RAI.