Olivia Murphy: Women Make Music
Bio: Olivia Murphy has quickly established herself as a multi-award-winning, innovative, and colourful artist, crafting her own distinct and personal voice in jazz composition. Her music fuses contemporary composition and song-writing with elements of free improvisation, while always keeping story-telling at its core, hailed as “some of the most exciting large ensemble jazz emerging from the London scene today” (UK Jazz News). Murphy’s 17-piece Orchestra has performed to sold out venues across the country, from Birmingham Symphony Hall to Pizza Express Jazz Club (Soho) and her recent commissions include Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and the ABRSM.
Project Description: Olivia will use the Women Make Music grant to record “Siren Cycle”, an experimental sixty minute suite, following an original long form poem inspired by Greek myth and folklore. The composition tells the story of four sisters lost at sea, and their journey to be reunited, featuring an improvising large ensemble of four female vocalists, woodwinds, brass, strings and rhythm section, with Olivia conducting. Originally commissioned by Cheltenham Jazz Festival for a one-off performance in May 2025, this PRSF support enables the creation of a studio recording of this ambitious project, allowing wider audiences to listen, and will add to Olivia’s growing portfolio of musical work.
Short Project Title: Siren Cycle – New Work Recording