Shawn Murphy is retired Director of Bands at Vista Ridge High School, and currently serves as a fundraising representative for Fan-Pledge. Mr. Murphy earned his Bachelors degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas and holds professional affiliations with Texas Music Educators Association and Texas Bandmasters Association. Over the course of his 26 year career in music education, Mr. Murphy’s bands earned numerous UIL Sweepstakes awards, advanced to the UIL State Marching Contest on several occasions, and was named a finalist for the TMEA Honor Band competition. He attributes his successes to the lessons learned from his many mentors, specifically Don Hanna and Ray Stanizewski, Mr. Murphy’s high school band directors at Denton High School.

Mr. Murphy is a proud alumnus of Drum Corps International, having performed with the Sky Ryders based out of Texas, and The Blue Devils from California. After aging out of the activity, he served on the brass staffs for Blue Devils B, Cadets, Blue Knights, Blue Devils, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Mandarins.

Mr. Murphy spends his free time mountain biking, playing disc golf, and traveling the world with his family. Mr. Murphy has been married to his beautiful wife, the CEO of Simply Plant Based Kitchen, Kim Murphy since 2002, and has two amazing sons, Mason & Hayden, two rambunctious Siberian Huskies, Daphnis and Chloe, and two crazy cats, Cocoa and Mello.