By Laura O’Neill

PRCC Public Relations

POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Dr. William Lewis Honors Institute, along with sponsor Lower Pearl River Valley Foundation, will welcome Dr. Jeffery Murdock to Pearl River Community College’s Ethel Holden Brownstone Center For The Arts on Feb. 11. 

Murdock, 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year, will be presenting “A Journey Through Black Music.” The evening will also feature the PRCC Singers and

East Marion Gospel Choir joining Murdock on stage. 

“I am ecstatic to come back to South Mississippi where I got my start,” said Murdock. “It’s a ‘coming home’ of sorts, and the first time I’ve given a concert of any kind in the

area since I left in 1999! I can’t wait!”

The Honors Institute Lyceum Lecture Series charts a bold direction in intellectual discourse and academic inquiry at Pearl River. The Dr. William Lewis

Honors Institute seeks to host speakers who engage, challenge, provoke, and quite possibly, change lives.    

Tickets for the event are free with advance seating reservations available at

prcc.edu/brownstone/events/dr-jeffrey-murdock

ABOUT DR. JEFFERY MURDOCK

Murdock is internationally known as a conductor, clinician, and skilled gospel musician. He currently serves as Associate Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas.

He is the 2016 Connor Endowed Faculty Fellow in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Science, and 2019 Most Outstanding Faculty at the University of Arkansas. He is the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year.

Murdock has conducted regional and state honor choirs, and headlined conferences in 26 states and 5 countries. His research interests include Culturally

Responsive Pedagogy in the Choral Classroom, Music in Urban Schools, and Social Justice in Music Education.

Murdock holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting, both from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Music Education from the University of Memphis. 

For more information about current safety protocols at PRCC, please visit prcc.edu/coronavirus.