 He grew up in Oberlin, OH, where his father was a member of the Oberlin College faculty.Murphy was a founding member of the Philip Glass and Steve Reich Ensembles, and played a key role in the development of minimalist music.He received a master's degree in Composition in 1966 from the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, NY, where he studied with composer Luciano Berio and received several BMI Foundation composition prizes.