About

Mrs. Murphy’s Choir is a small women’s choral ensemble based in Portland, Oregon. We’ve been practicing, singing, laughing, performing and enjoying each other’s company for more than 30 years.

Our journey began in 1993 when Gail Murphy was struck with the inspiration to start a women’s singing group. She gathered together a group like-minded individuals who started meeting once a week to sing and explore their passion for music. At one point Gail’s husband joked about her heading off to “Mrs. Murphy’s Choir” practice and the name stuck.

Mrs. Murphy’s Choir has never had a destination in mind. Rather, we are a group of cheerful wanderers, singing our way through 700 years of choral music and enjoying every step of the journey. We’ve followed a winding path, building a large and eclectic repertoire that includes medieval chant, 16th Century madrigals, Celtic and Appalachian folks songs, cowboy ballads, 30s and 40s jazz tunes, spirituals, Motown classics, standards, holiday songs from around the world and contemporary music by local composers.

We’ve maintained a core group of 10-12 women from various walks of life. A few people have come and gone and the entire choir took a hiatus from practice for a few years, getting together to sing only for special events. In 2012, at our summer picnic, we marveled that we were fast approaching 20 years as a choir.  We decided it was time to prepare a 20th anniversary concert, and in the months that followed we reacquainted ourselves with some of our favorite songs and added a few new pieces to our repertoire. In June 2013 we took the stage to perform for our families, friends and fans who have followed us over the years. That 20th anniversary concert was a blast. And every rehearsal reminded us just how much we love singing together.

In June 2016 we checked off our longtime bucket-list goal of making a choir trip to Ireland. It was the experience of a lifetime and so gratifying to share our music in beautiful venues across the Emerald Isle.

Since that time we’ve rehearsed, gathered for performances (formal and informal) and held our 30th Anniversary Celebration concert on November 19, 2023 where we performed a few of our old favorites, some new tunes and audience sing-alongs. It was a blast.

Here’s to the next 30 years!

Click here to contribute to our GoFundMe campaign!

Mrs. Murphy’s Choir is an all-volunteer choir. We sing for donations only, and unless we are singing for a specific benefit fundraiser, all proceeds from our performances at events, meetings, private parties and concerts go toward obtaining music, paying a director and building our MMC-Goes-to-Ireland fund.