Key'mon Murrah: A Voice Rising to Any Challenge

SUPPLEMENT TO THE ASPEN TIMES - MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2021 VOL. 31, NO. 6

Key'mon Murrah: A Voice Rising to Any Challenge

PIPER STARNES

Festival Focus Writer

With a voice soaring high above the rest, singer Key’mon Murrah rises to any challenge. Murrah is one of this season’s fifteen Fleming Fellowship Artists—and the only sopranist— participating in the 2021 Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS (AOTVA) Program. Hand-selected by AOTVA co-artistic directors Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers, Murrah is thrilled to learn alongside rising opera talents and seasoned professionals and perform in Handel’s Rodelinda, regina de’ Longobardi on August 21.

Since childhood, Murrah has always found joy in singing, especially with his twin brother. After a teacher encouraged them to pursue music in college, the brothers went on to attend the University of Kentucky on performance scholarships, despite having never sung opera before. Interestingly, Murrah enrolled as a tenor, graduated as a countertenor, but is actually a sopranist (or male soprano).

Fleming says, “People are sometimes surprised to hear men sing in the falsetto range, so much higher than other male voice types, but we actually celebrate this range for men in pop music today—think of Michael Jackson, Andy Gibb, Prince, and Smokey Robinson.”

Summers adds, “[Key’mon’s] range easily encompasses more than three octaves. His depth and beauty of tone is memorable, and though he is still a young singer, he has profound interpretive gifts and a rare ability to go right to the heart.” Summers points out that, although most sopranist repertoire has remained untouched since the eighteenth century, “Impresarios and conductors of imagination and knowledge will have no problem finding a huge array of music for Key’mon to sing and for twenty-first-century audiences to discover.”

Sopranist Key’mon Murrah is King Bertarido in the AOTVA production of Handel’s Rodelinda, August 21.

When the pandemic struck, Murrah took the initiative to research and create his own opportunities, deciding that if he wasn’t working, he would network and build his social media presence, where he’s already accumulated nearly 200,000 views on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Murrah’s manager Jeffrey Larson, founder and president of L2 Artists, recalls his first impression: “Key’mon drew my interest in about ten seconds. I was blown away by the ease with which he performed.” With a rare gut feeling, Larson knew immediately that he needed to work with Murrah. Making connections with industry professionals and participating in competitions, Murrah says, “really helped me to be able to be here today.”

Fleming says, “Hearing Key’mon live for the first time at his audition in Aspen was revelatory, especially because his range is so extensive, lending more virtuosity to [Baroque opera] repertoire than one typically hears. He has an extraordinary instrument—warm, full, and even throughout—and he exudes a calm self-possession on stage. He will continue to grow artistically, and I believe he has an important career ahead of him.”

Murrah explains that the AMFS environment is something you can’t find anywhere else, pointing out, it’s “performance-driven, but you get that full balance of education, support, and professional accountability.” In master classes, he has been able to work with Fleming and Summers; guest artists Larry Brownlee, Julia Bullock, and Golda Schultz; as well as Kenneth Merrill, head acting coach and director of Handel’s Rodelinda.

Taking place Saturday, August 21, this Handel opera is where we’ll see Murrah’s hard work and preparation pay off. Performing as Bertarido, King of Lombardy, Murrah is eager to delve into Handel’s music and story. As Rodelinda is one of the final events of the season, Murrah intends to make the most of the Festival’s last three weeks before pursuing his graduate diploma at Juilliard this fall.

Reflecting on learning and growing with his fellow opera Handel’s Rodelinda, August 21. students, Murrah says gratefully, “We’ve become a big group of friends, supporting each other in everything. We’ve become like a tight-knit family.” This, of course, is a family and experience Murrah will surely cherish.

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