Daniel Murphy specialises in performing a variety of plucked-stringed instruments and enjoys a solo career as well as collaborating with many different singers and instrumentalists. Inspired by the great lute players of the past, historical accuracy is at the heart of his music-making.

As a young guitarist, Daniel Murphy studied at the Junior Guildhall Music Department for 4 years with Mark Eden and Matthew Robinson. He then started his Undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music studying Classical Guitar with Carlos Bonell. During the first two years of his degree, he gradually transitioned to the historical performance department and in his third year, he became RCM’s first ever undergraduate principal-study theorbo player, studying with Jakob Lindberg. In 2023, he graduated from a Masters of Performance Degree with distinction.

Daniel’s freelance work includes collaborating with ensembles such as Ex-Cathedra, Armonico Consort, Fiori Musicali, London Baroque Orchestra and The Bellot Ensemble, with whom he recently performed at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. As a lutenist, he regularly performs lute song with numerous singers including Emma Kirkby, Mary Bevan and Hugh Cutting. Opera forms a large part of his continuo playing, performing works including Handel’s Rodelinda; Purcell’s Fairy Queen, and Monteverdi’s l’Orfeo. 

As part of the Flutes & Frets Duo alongside Beth Stone, he has recently won the Romanus Weichlein Prize for the advancement of Austrian Music at the 2023 International H.I.F. Biber Competition and the 2022 La Follia Nuova International Chamber Music Competition. They are also currently collaborating with the EEFEA to perform at various international early music festivals.

Career highlights include performing with the Taverner Consort, conducted by Andrew Parrott in Frauenchiemsee, Germany and numerous features on Radio 3’s Early Music Show and German Radio, WDR 3 Alte Musik. As a soloist, Daniel recently Won the 2024 La Risonanza EMSA Competition and was also the only lute finalist in the New Elizabethan Award 2022.