Biography

 

Murray Grainger is established as one of Britain’s most influential and innovative performers of the accordion and bandoneon.

Having studied at the Royal Academy of Music, his exceptional ability to move between genres has seen him crossing boundaries across the musical spectrum from traditional, through classical and jazz, to commercial and popular music.

He has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic, and Scottish Ballet; at Glastonbury Festival of Arts, Sidmouth International Folk Festival, Edinburgh Festival, and Celtic Connections; and collaborated with many of the world’s top performers, including Cormac Byrne, Piers Adams, Adam Summerhayes, Miranda Sykes and Martin Allcock.

Murray is a respected educator teaching at Halsway Manor, Hands on Music in Witney and former head of accordion studies at Chetham’s School of Music. A talented music engineer, he regularly produces successful albums, including The Baroque Bohemians, Red Priest, which topped the classical charts.  

An accomplished player of both piano and button key accordions (as well as the bandoneon and the accordina) he has collaborated with composers creating new works for the instrument and given world premiers to pieces by composers such as Jonathon Dove, Eddie McGuire, and Gerhard Stäbler.

His current projects include gypsy klezmer group Dodo Street Band, folk tone poem trio Words of a Fiddler’s Daughter, folk-improv duo The Ciderhouse Rebellion and new improv-trad group The Haar.

 

‘a truly consummate musician with boundless talent … a genuine virtuoso’ Piers Adams

 

‘You will be transported on a musical journey that will touch every conceivable human emotion’ – FATEA

 

‘Beautiful, natural music that is unrestrained and dramatic’ – Folk Radio UK