Authors

Jenny Murphy

Jenny Murphy is an entertainer for all ages who has performed everywhere from theaters and concert halls to rallies, streets, and subway platforms. A storyteller in the American folk tradition, she sings songs from past and present mostly to inspire understanding and action. She began her intergenerational music career as a co-founder of McKinley Kapers in 1998, a collaborative performance of children and their parents and teachers that she co-wrote and directed in Westfield, New Jersey, and a show that the community continues to put on annually. In 2009, she prepared and led young members of the Take Me To The River Community Chorus in a performance with folk legend Pete Seeger. She has belonged to and recorded with many musical groups, such as The BluesMothers (lead singer), Hudson Valley Sally (founding member), and The Walkabout Clearwater Chorus (song leader). Her voice can be heard on various Pete Seeger recordings, including as a featured member of the chorus on the Grammy-award-winning album, Pete Seeger at 89. In 2012, she combined her work as a nursing home entertainer and an early childhood music and movement specialist to form Babies & Grands Music LLC, a “Child & Me” music class that brings young families into the community spaces of local nursing homes, where she has been using music to foster intergenerational friendships. In 2017 she was one of the honorees of the Andrus on Hudson Annual benefit for her work in intergenerational programming.