Mary Claire (Miller) Murphy grew up with seven siblings on a small farm in northwest Ohio. She began studying piano when she was eight years old and continued studying music at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, Mary Claire was awarded Xavier’s Presidential and McCauley Music scholarships and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. Her concentrations were piano performance and composition, which she studied under Dr. Polina Bespalko and Dr. Kaleel Skeirik, respectively. Prior to graduation, she travelled abroad to teach general music and piano lessons in Costa Rica, received the West Hills College Piano Award for her solo performances, and performed as an accompanist for the Cincinnati Children’s Choir.

Mary Claire is now an active member of greater Toledo’s musical community. She has taught Pre-K through 8th grade music at St. Augustine in Napoleon, Ohio, and 6th-12th grade music at St. Ursula Academy in Toledo, Ohio. Inspired to foster music education, she founded Field Lily Music to offer private piano lessons to local students. Mary Claire was awarded a tuition scholarship and music theory assistantship at Bowling Green State University, where she then completed a Master of Music Composition degree. At Bowling Green, she studied under Marilyn Shrude and Christopher Dietz and received additional instruction from Mikel Kuehn.

The National Federation of Music Clubs recognized Mary Claire’s piano solo Cenote Dos Ojos with the 2019 Marion Richter Composition Award. She continues to take special interest in piano solo composition and has an affinity for writing lullabies. She also strives to write poignant musical narratives which juxtapose moments of thoughtful intimacy with simple grandeur to create an experience that is authentic, unapologetically emotional, and visceral.