Let's Make Summer Music

The SMS Interview: Michael Murphy’s view

We are delighted to welcome Michael Murphy, Director of University Concert Hall (UCH), which is on the campus of University of Limerick (UL).

This is 2nd in a series of interviews we plan to publish about SMS around the theme of “SMS : Significance & Future” -  showcasing views of key people in and connected with SMS.

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Michael Murphy’s CV :

• responsible for management, growth and development of UCH
• opened & launched UCH in September 1993
• finance director of Irish based high-tech electronics company with marketing, sales and distribution subsidiaries in the UK, Europe and USA
• chartered accountant @PricewaterhouseCoopers Limerick & London
• Educated @ Blackrock College Dublin & Crescent College Limerick
• born Limerick City

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Favorite sport: Rugby. I was @ Crescent College Limerick & Blackrock College Dublin.  Support &  follow Munster (& Old Crescent).

Favorite music: Eagles, Eric Clapton & Opera, particularly Verdi

Favorite performance ever: Maria Callas & Eric Clapton

Favorite food: I’m a Francophile.  Love the weather, love the country, like most of the people – they can be a bit obnoxious at times.  There’s a particular restaurant where you get seafood & fillet steak (served out in the open) followed by Crepe Suzette – truly lovely.

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What was your first contact with SMS?

We opened the Concert Hall (UCH) in 1993…. In 1996 it was brought to my attention that Clare Music Makers Association were inquiring about hiring the Hall for a concert in July.  I thought “great stuff, this is our quiet period.” Said “keep dealing away with them”.   Weeks later, I noticed we had an evening of classical music, Beethoven, Mozart and all that sort of stuff… “Where did all that come out of?“  I was told that was Clare Music Makers Association.

The joke here is that when I heard Clare Music Makers Association originally, I automatically, incorrectly, assumed they were a trad Irish group.  And I’m  going “CMMA play Mozart! What the hell is going on?”

Shortly after, I met  Bob & Nancy Creech, and whoever they had at that time.  I began to realise and understand what they were about.

CMMA is still there.  They’re a separate organisation from Bob.  He was involved with them;  his daughter I think was teaching over there, and they used to have a summer festival, “Summer Music on the Shannon”.

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Where did you first meet Bob Creech?

It was here in Allegro Cafe in UCH.  It was just before their performance.  They were in: all of a sudden they were all over the place; rehearsing.   I was introduced to him, probably by Henri (Box Office Manager) who’d been dealing with their concert arrangements & requirements.

Talking to Bob Creech,  I discovered he’d been General Manager of Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for 10 years.  A Canadian, wonderful horn player, a man with a huge CV,  played with so many orchestras.  We were able to talk about Vancouver.

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What’s the connection between Vancouver, Bob Creech and you?

Suzanne Murphy, my sister, was singing in Vancouver.  I was working as accountant for an international business.  I had to go to Silicone Valley, San Francisco.  I timed the trip so that I could travel up to Vancouver afterwards.  Suzanne was performing Lucia de Lammermore. I thought I could hop up there, not realising how far it was.    Suzanne sang with Dennis O’Neill.  It was a stunning, brilliant performance.  It’s one of my favourite operas.  A magnificent evening.  I was absolutely proud in that packed Vancouver hall: here was this girl from Limerick singing in on an international stage.

Next  morning in Vancouver Airport, I went to find a newspaper, to see if there was a review.  There were big headlines “Nothing Like This For 10 Years“. Vancouver Opera was the second home of Joan Sutherland [hear her sing here]. It was 10 years since she’s sung there.  Talking to Bob Creech years later: he was the leader of the orchestra that night!

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What was your first impression of Bob Creech?

Small in stature,  well able to listen.  I found him an exceptionally interesting  character.  As you get to know him more and more,  you realise he’s had an amazing musical career.  He’s built up a wonderful network of contacts with whom he’s kept in touch.  People like Carl Davis & Jose Louis Garcia (who’s come to UCH to give tutorials in the Concert Hall).

It’s the legacy he’s created, as musician & arts administrator, including the founding of a Summer School in Vancouver.  Bob is forceful….  He’s  worked with Paul McCartney, even had the idea of getting Paul to come to Limerick.  I’ll believe that  when I see it.

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What attracted you to the idea of giving SMS a home in UCH?

It fell into our lap.  If you were to prepare a job spec for artistic director, Bob Creech would fit it ideally.  What really attracted him was the acoustic of the Hall.  At the beginning, I was simply renting a hall to Clare Music Makers.   Year after year,  Bob Creech came back.  SMS were hiring school rooms in Ennis & Limerick.  But it  was splintered.  That doesn’t make for a good festival

Bob was bringing staff in. It grew from one performance.  Bob was pressing me for space for tutorials, and then residential student accommodation.  It grew and moved in, to the point where there is almost nothing in Ennis.  You could say SMS migrated in.

Clare Music Makers is run by a committee.  The SMS summer school grew out of it.  CMMA found SMS was becoming too big; they were exhausted by it, and wanted to discontinue the relationship. This had financial implications for SMS.

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What were the implications of SMS moving from Clare Music Makers to UCH?

SMS was in receipt of funding from various agencies, including the Arts Council,  in the name of CMMA.   SMS is not a limited company, limited by guarantee.  Bob came to me. We discussed what to do.  The obvious thing to do was for UCH to assume SMS as a project of ours, run by Bob Creech.

I was happy, having observed the growth of SMS over many years.

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What’s become the relationship of UCH to SMS?

There was no perceived change.  Bob Creech ran SMS.  We’d discuss it.  Bob Creech would tell me about, say, John Perry.  I’d say “I don’t mind what you do artistically, you’re in charge of that area.  But I need  SMS to break even.”

Then there was the development of  the  Youth Opera Theatre Programme.   Bob Creech’s contacts again.  With the production of  Noah’s Flood, SMS developed an Arts Programme for two weeks. I was excited by it: kids making the art for the opera staging, rehearsing and learning alongside professional musicians.  It’s the discipline of the process, including individual solo performance.

But opera is very expensive to put on…  Bob Creech is an artistic entrepreneur.

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Has the expansion of SMS created any challenges for you?

SMS has grown because of the number of students, needing more and more rooms.  Bob says  “get rooms for me”. I’ve had to go to university departments to acquire rooms for rehearsal, and try to keep up with the expansion.  SMS is now a 4 week event.  That excites me…  but has brought its own challenge.

The campus, in the ’90s, was like a desert all summer, all idle.  SMS fitted in neatly with my ambitions to have activity here on the campus.  In recent years, the UL campus in summer has become a destination for all sorts of students, many here for language study. Now it’s become difficult to find accommodation on campus.  SMS doesn’t have the same freedom as before.