MURL ALLEN SANDERS is a musician, composer, teacher and recording artist who is active in the Seattle area music scene and across the United States, Canada, England, Brazil and Japan. Murl has worked with such diverse artists as as Chuck Berry, Etta James, Il Divo, Glenn Yarbrough, Seattle Symphony, Brazilian accordion virtuoso Chico Chagas, virtuosos Stas Venglevski and Gary Blair, Leroy Bell, Peter Duchin, Alarm Will Sound, Seattle Modern Orchestra, Cascade Symphony, Everett Philharmonic, Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers, The Von Trapp Children, Theodore Bikel, Leslie Gore, Barbara Lamb, Susan Pascal, Warren Rand, Pearl Django, Michael Tomlinson and Kelly Harland, among many others.

Murl teaches piano and accordion privately and is also adjunct faculty at Cornish College of the Arts and Shoreline Community College in Seattle. He has received two grants from The Seattle Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs to compose She Blows Hot and Cold for chorus and symphony orchestra which premiered May 2, 2010, and a grant to compose his Accordion Concerto No. 2 which premiered in 2007 with Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers. His Accordion Concerto No. 1, a commission from Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers, premiered in 2003. Murl received a 2010 and 2009 ASCAP plus award for his concert compositions from The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Recent appearances include:
Seattle Symphony
Juazeiro Da Bahia, Brazil, IV Festival International Da Sanfona Brasil
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with Chico Chagas
Earshot Jazz Festival
Bellevue Jazz Festival
Alarm Will Sound
Seattle Modern Orchestra
Northwest Film Forum
Chicago Accordion Club
Leavenworth International Accordion Festival
Texas International Accordion Convention
Accordionists and Teachers Guild (ATG), Chicago, Nashville & Minneapolis

Murl’s record label is Jazz Moon Records, discography:
“Guides and Spirits” 1981
“Soon” 1991
“New Romance and Doing All Right” 1996
“Can You Dance To It?” 2000
“Accordion Concerto No. 1” 2003
“Murl’s Holiday Favorites” 2009
“Stories of Lucile” 2012

Photo by Daniel Sheehan, eyeshotjazz.com, danielsheehan.com

Recent notable performances:

2016 Seattle Symphony
2015 Seattle Modern Orchestra
2015 Chicago Accordion Club
2015 Golden State Accordion Clubs, Vacaville and Escalon California
2015 International Pinot Noir Festival McMinnville, Oregon
2015 Silver Falls Accordion Camp
2012 Earshot Jazz Festival
2012 National Accordion Convention, Dallas, Texas
2012 Bellevue Jazz Festival
2012 Silver Falls, Oregon Accordion Camp
2012 Town Hall Seattle with Alarm Will Sound
2012 Paramount Theatre, Seattle with Il Divo
2011 Seattle Symphony “Untuxed” concert
2011 Cotati Accordion Festival
2011 Silver Falls Accordion Camp
2011 Bellevue Jazz Festival, Washington
2011 Accordion Heroes Concert, Seattle
2010 Earshot Jazz Festival
2010 Leavenworth International Accordion Festival
2010 Bellevue Jazz Festival
2009 Japan Tour with Terry Lauber and The Seattle Sound
2009 West Coast Tour with Glenn Yarbrough
2009 Silver Falls Accordion Camp
2008 Accordionists and Teachers Guild Convention, Nashville, Tennessee
2008 Cascade Symphony, Edmonds, Washington
2008 Everett Symphony, Everett, Washington
2007 Accordion Concerto No. 2 world premiere, Seattle, Washington