Sequel: child prodigy: hailed in ebony scores big - Tai Murray

Ebony, Dec, 2003 by Zondra Hughes

AT the age of 2--when many of her peers were reveling in their "terrible twos"-Tai Murray strolled up to her mother and announced:

"I want to play the violin mommy."

"I was shocked," says mother

Ellen Murray, who adopted Tai when she was 7r months old. "Music was always in our house, mostly jazz and gospel, but I don't know where she first heard the violin."

Tai took her first violin lesson at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music (located in Chicago) when she was 5 years old. At age 9, Tai made her solo debut with the prestigious Chicago Symphony, to great fanfare.

In 2001, Tai, then a recent graduate of the Artist Diploma program at the University of Indiana's School of Music, was featured in EBONY as one of "The New Child Prodigies." Today, the sophisticated New Yorker is a diva of distinction. Tai has performed extensively as a soloist with orchestras and in recitals throughout the United States, and she made her New York concerto debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in May 2002.

This year, Murray, now 22, will come full circle, performing once again with the Chicago Symphony, in a set of subscription concerts conducted by Alan Gilbert.

As a young Black female, Murray knows that she is a rarity in the kingdom of classical music, a kingdom that has historically existed as an exclusive realm of the privileged White male.

Even in today's more enlightened society, Black violinists are struggling because of the associated costs of playing the instrument.

"A good violin, even for a child, is expensive," says Tai's mother, Ellen Murray, who shelled out $1,600 for a violin and bow for Tai when she was just 7 years old. "Today, Tai doesn't own a violin, and she needs a quality Italian made violin like a Guarneri, or a Stradivarius; these violins are rare and can cost anywhere from $150,000 to nearly $1 million." A number of music fans and leaders, including Minister Louis Farrakhan, have tried unsuccessfully to launch a campaign to buy Tai a violin.

When in school, Murray practices five hours a day with a Juilliard-issued violin; when on tour, she borrows a violin from a music store, a standard practice among many young violinists.

Despite the setback of having to play with a borrowed instrument, Murray's performances are earning her critical acclaim from coast to coast.

One critic, composer Jeff Manookian said in the Salt Lake Tribune: "Every note ... was marked with superhuman intonation ... throw in her magical bowing technique (at times, bow changes were imperceptible) and what comes out is awe-inspiring execution. Symphony orchestra managements and concert promoters had better augment their budgets if they plan to book Tai Murray ha the near future."

Tai has received top prizes in the Indiana University Concerto Competition, the Inaugural Sphinx Competition, and the Juilliard School Concerto Competition. Tai was also awarded a Certificate of Honor for outstanding musician-ship by the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

When she's not performing or practicing, Tai, who is fluent in French and Japanese, does what most Sisters her age do; she hangs out with friends and family and dances to jazz and rhythm and blues.

Tai also says that, at least for the moment, her career is her only boyfriend.

"In five years, I hope that I will continue to play on major concert stages, and I love traveling," Tai gushes. "So I'm focused on that. There's not a boyfriend at the moment, not right now. But there's always interesting prospects."