Jeremiah Murphy

Some gospel artists capture your heart from the first moment. Jeremiah Murphy’s beautiful spirit and captivating smile are the most noticeable characteristics of this man of God. But when he sings, anyone in earshot can easily tell there’s so much more to this young man than what’s visible to the naked eye. This man is anointed by God to sing.
Jeremiah Murphy’s story begins in Washington, D.C., a city he still calls home. Growing up as a child prodigy, music was always a large part of his life. With his father as pastor of Leadership Commandment Church of God, ministry was never far from Jeremiah’s thoughts. It was a natural progression for him to become active in the church’s music department.
Although he had been singing almost since he was born, it was at the age of nine, that he learned how to play piano. At the age of 13, he co-founded the Sousa Gospel Chorus at Sousa Jr. High School and simultaneously was the director of his church’s choral ensemble. His desire for music grew and when he entered his teen years, he decided to get serious about music ministry. Murphy says, “I not only wanted to play piano, but I wanted to be a songwriter. So I started praying around that time – as a teenager – asking God to make me a songwriter. And he gave me my first song when I was 16 years old.”
Education nurtured the musical gifting when he attended D.C.’s McKinley High School where he was placed in the Music Major program and served as the pianist and director of the McKinley Gospel Choir. He walked away with a diploma and continued his music education at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. At the conservatory, he became the director of the school’s Ensemble And Voices For Christ and was the pianist and choir director of Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Oberlin. Completing two degrees there – a Bachelor of Music (Piano) and a Masters of Music Teaching – Murphy was well on his way to moving in the calling that God had placed on his life years earlier.
Shortly after graduation, he moved back to the D.C. area and found employment with the Prince George’s County, Maryland School System as a teacher of vocal music. Currently, he’s fulfilling that role at Largo, Maryland’s Largo High School where he directs the Largo High School Choir. For his exemplary work as a music educator, Murphy received the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award in 1997 presented to him by the Washington Post. Merging his love of gospel music and his desire to teach, he’s brought some of the genre’s best artists to sing with the educational aggregation. Artists like Richard Smallwood, Karen Clark Sheard, Tramaine Hawkins, and Myrna Summers have tapped the choir as background vocalists further expanding the reach of the ministry of Jeremiah Murphy.
He’s been part of many musical ensembles including Jeremiah Murphy & Unlimited Praise, Dale Talbert & The Dimensionals, Voices of Praise at Largo Community Church, where he was the director, and the prestigious Jerusalem 3000 Choir in Jerusalem, Israel, where he played the role of coordinator. His ministry has taken him across the globe having also sung in Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. As a matter of fact, one of his compositions was featured with David Murray’s Deep River Gospel Choir at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, The Netherlands.
Here at home, Murphy serves at the newly appointed Senior Pastor of the church he grew up in – Leading Commandment Church of God in Washington, D.C. His love of the Word of God was evidenced in his church where for over 15 years, he was the teacher of the church’s weekly bible study where he shared the word of God with Leading Commandment’s members.
Although called as a minister to the preached word, Murphy’s heart also holds a special place for the word shared through the medium of music. He has captured his enormous gifting in his recordings, three to date. Introduction, his label, EMA Music’s, debut release showcased the incredible talents of this young man. Another Perspective followed which introduced his burgeoning gifts as a producer. His newest release, Worship, recorded with his group Judah, continues to reveal the anointing Jeremiah Murphy has been given. The album has spawned the church hit, “The Lord Is In This Place”, an anthem inviting the presence of God. It’s just a small part of what’s to come from the ministry of Jeremiah Murphy.
DISCOGRAPHY
“It’s Because Of You” (Composer), More Than Enough, El Shaddai, Platinum Praise Records 2006
"The Lord Is In This Place" (Composer), In His Persence, US Naval Academy Gospel Choir, 2006
Worship, Jeremiah Murphy & JUDAH (Artist), EMA Music, Inc. 2005
Another Perspective, Jeremiah Murphy (Artist), EMA Music, Inc. 2000
"The Lord Has Brought Me" (Composer), He's Real, Dee Lee Owens & The DC Fellowship Choir, 1995
INSPIRATIONS, Largo High School Choir (Director) 1999
“His Mercy Endureth For Ever”, His Mercy Endureth For Ever, Myrna Summers with Largo High School Choir (Choir Director)1998
INTRODUCTION, Jeremiah Murphy (Artist), EMA Music, Inc. 1993
None But The Righteous, Dale Talbert & The Dimensionals (Pianist), MAW Records 1983
“Since Jesus Came Into My Life” (Composer), Shadows, Oberlin College Black Ensemble 1975
Lead Me Guide Me, Sousa Jr. High Gospel Chorus (Co-Founder, Pianist) 1971