Crowdfunding Campaign for Next Album JET SET!

Check out the brand new crowdfunding campaign for the next album JET SET!

Hot on the heels of GRAND TOUR Baroque Road Trip, Murphy and the NDA have recorded their next album, JET SET.

Moving from the Baroque into the heady, inspired atmosphere of the early classical period, the album follows members of the 18th century's musical JET SET as they do the glittering cultural epicentres of the time, including London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and St Petersburg. The album features symphonies by Abel and Reichardt, and arias by Paisiello, Storace and Mozart. In the double role of conductor and soloist, Murphy performs the Zelter Viola Concerto in E Flat.

Grammy award-winning sound-engineer Jean-Marie Geijsen and producer Karel Bruggeman (Polyhymnia) headed up the recording team for the May 2017 sessions in the historic Gothic Hall, Council of State in The Hague.

JET SET will be Murphy and the NDA's 7th album with Dutch label PENTATONE.

See the crowdfunding campaign for the album on Kickstarter

Simon Murphy during sessions for the new album, JET SET!

            

Murphy to partner with Norway's oldest orchestra

Simon Murphy will appear as guest-conductor with Norway's oldest orchestra for a series of projects in 2018. Founded in 1734, DNBE prides itself on its centuries-long tradition of musical invention and innovation.

Murphy has been invited to programme and to perform with the orchestra, further developing its activities and profile in the area of earlier music - one of the orchestra's core focuses. Repertoire includes Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Gade and Lortzing.

            

EU Recognition for Festival Programmes

Simon Murphy has been the artistic director and programmer of the classical stage of the Netherlands' Embassy Festival since the festival's inception, 5 years ago. This year, the festival received the EU's EFFE status, a new seal of quality for remarkable, European festivals offering unique and high-quality experiences.

Headed by Sir Jonathan Mills, the award's jury praised the consistency in quality and in the artistic choices made in programming both established and emerging artists.

Murphy's festival programmes have seen Dutch harpist Lavinia Meijer through to Swedish trombonist Karin Hammar take to the stage. This year, Slovenian mezzo soprano Barbara Kozelj headlines Murphy's line-up.

            

First new album reviews are in

Being featured on “A list” new release playlists, including on iTunes and Spotify, Simon Murphy's new album, GRAND TOUR Baroque Road Trip, has received a warm welcome by the music industry. The album's trailer was also a success on social media, and now the formal press reviews are starting to come in.

Dutch music quarterly MUZE takes the honours for the very first review:

“Inspired by the many pages of travel diaries and reports of musical experiences, Murphy and the NDA plan out their own route with thrilling concertos by Telemann, Bach, Vivaldi and Van Wassenaer. Instead of pastel drawings and sketches, this sonorous travel report consists of atmospheric images in major and minor, with the colours, aromas and tantalising glimpses being impeccably rendered by the music's grandeur, warmth and elegant repose. Matching the infectious energy of the musical adventurers of the time, the outstanding playing of this perfectly attuned ensemble of soloists makes the invitation in the CD booklet to “sit back and enjoy” impossible to refuse. Both the repertoire and the performance of The New Dutch Academy make this an unforgettable musical journey.”

Read full review (in Dutch)

Check out the album teaser here

Check out the Making Of here

Order tickets for the Album Launch at The Concertgebouw Amsterdam on 3 September 2017

Order the album on the PENTATONE website

Check out the B2B tour info here