Graeme Murphy b.1950

He began directing for Opera Australia in 1984 with Brian Howard’s Metamorphosis,
subsequently directing an acclaimed production of Puccini’s Turandot, followed by Richard Strauss’s Salome and Berlioz’ The Trojans, the latter combining the singers and dancers of Opera Australia with the Sydney Dance Company in a lavish spectacle. His Turandot has been revived many times.

In 2000 Murphy celebrated with a retrospective season at the Sydney Opera House, opening with a Gala Performance followed by Body of Work – A Retrospective. He next created Mythologia, an elaborate full-length work commissioned for the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival.

In 2001 he created Tivoli – a dance musical paying tribute to the much loved Tivoli variety and revue circuit. Tivoli was an historic co-production between the Australian Ballet and the Sydney Dance Company, produced to mark the Centenary of Federation. It was seen in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and had two seasons in Sydney. It won four Australian Dance Awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Choreography.

In 1982 Graeme Murphy was awarded an AM for his services to dance. He is the recipient of three honorary doctorates – Hon. D Litt Tas (1990), Hon. D Phil Qld (1992), Hon. D Litt UNSW (1999). He was honoured at the Inaugural Sydney Opera House Honours in 1998 and was named by the National Trust of Australia as a National Living Treasure in 1999.

Live Performance Australia presented him with the 2001 Helpmann Award for Best Choreography for Body of Work – A Retrospective, Gala Performance and, the following year, the James Cassius Williamson Award, in recognition of his career achievements.

In 2003, he was awarded the Australian Government’s Centenary Medal in honour of his contribution to the development of dance in Australia. In 2004 he was named Cultural Leader of the Year by the Australian Business and the Arts Foundation, receiving the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Award in commemoration of this honour. In 2005 he was listed among Australia’s 50 Most Glamorous Exports at a special celebration hosted by the Australian Government and Austrade.

Murphy received Australian Dance Awards for outstanding achievement in choreography for Tivoli in 2001 and Swan Lake in 2003. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2006, the year in which both he and Vernon resigned from the Sydney Dance Company, they were joint recipients of the award for lifetime achievement. They took their final SDC bows in 2007.

After his 30 years with Sydney Dance Company, the remarkable Mr Murphy is setting out afresh, seeking new opportunities, relishing new challenges. The Pied Piper is playing again.

Frank Van Straten, 2007