To hear excerpts of Murphy’s CD, go to www.kerrymurphyonline.com. CDs also can be purchased through the Web site. Also, Murphy will be selling her CDs at church bazaars, including the Nov. 24 event at Shakopee Area Catholic Schools and at Family of Christ Lutheran Church in Chanhassen on Dec. 8. She can be contacted at kerry@kerrymurphyonline.com.

By Ruth Anne Maddox

Christmas may still be more than a month away, but Kerry Murphy of Shakopee has been planning for it since January.

That’s when she started penning some new arrangements for a dozen Christmas songs to play on her piano. The self-issued challenge was to arrange these songs by July — and she just made her goal, completing the final arrangement, "Away in a Manger," on July 31.

Once she was done, her husband, Mike, posed a new question: "Now what are you going to do with them?"

At first, Murphy, a Bloomington native who is a music assistant and plays piano at Berea Lutheran Church in Richfield, figured she’d just play the music at church. Then, talk evolved into producing a CD.

And, one weekend in mid-September, the Murphys headed to Mike’s home state of Iowa to meet with a friend who had a band and had alread

Pianist Kerry Murphy recently released her first CD. "Joy to the World" is a compilation of 12 Christmas solo pieces that she both arranged and performed.

y made a few of his own CDs. Kerry planned to record her CD that weekend but she wanted to keep it a surprise from family and friends.

"We totally lied to our families … and my boss," she said of the reason for the trip.

With the "Joy to the World" CD in hand, the Murphys returned to Shakopee and planned a party. She even decorated her house for Christmas — including putting up the tree — to get into the spirit of the holiday and allow for the music to be heard and felt in the proper aesthetics.

Murphy, who also is a piano teacher with a studio in her home, said that her students were coming in and saying, "Um, why are you decorated for Christmas when it’s Halloween?" She told them that her house was dressing up as Christmas for the October holiday.

And, because she loves Christmas and Christmas music so much, the décor will remain until after the intended holiday. She said she plays Christmas music all year long anyway.

The mother of two — 8-year-old Madison and 5-year-old Jake — was able to pull off her surprise even after the party invitations went out. The only clue given was that she had a "big surprise" for them. Of course, many tried to guess the secret — speculating that she and her husband were adopting a child, moving to London (a possibility in her husband’s job) or that they won the lottery. One person even wagered that Kerry had finally gotten her dream piano, a Steinway.

"Nobody would expect me to do this," she said. "I’m really proud of it."

But, it was no surprise that the surprise had something to do with music, as Kerry has been performing since age 3, singing with her grandparents and the Edina Swingin’ Singin’ Seniors at nursing homes. She has been playing piano since age 6 and majored in piano at University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. She started teaching neighborhood children how to play piano when she was only in seventh grade and has been teaching ever since.

She said she tells the parents of her students that she likely will not make them into the next concert pianist, but she will teach them how to enjoy music.

Though she took a class in music theory in college, Kerry admits that it’s not her forte. She comes up with her arrangements by first getting a melody in her head and then sitting down at the piano until it works itself out.

She previously did an arrangement of "Edelweiss" for her grandmother ("Grandma Gunderson") to whom the CD is dedicated. And, she said, she was asked to compose a song for an Easter art exhibit a couple years ago so she knew she enjoyed arranging music. "Joy to the World" was the first song she finished and the arrangement met with rave reviews from those who heard her play it.

Oddly enough, her favorite Christmas song, "O Holy Night," isn’t on the CD. Her favorite from the ones that are on it is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."

-Ruth Anne Maddox can be reached at (952) 345-6678 or rmaddox@swpub.com.