College student creates Disney-esque symphony inspired by the noise of a grilled mushroom
“I’m telling my future children that he’s Beethoven."

Ethan McMurray wrote a mushroom musical worthy of a Disney movie.
Have you ever seen those videos where someone plugs in little electrodes into mushrooms and uses them to make trippy “plant music”? While that’s cool, this story has nothing to do with that.
Ethan McMurray, a 20-year-old music student at Oakland University in Michigan and gifted composer, shared an epic symphony arrangement onto his Instagram, inspired entirely by the sound of a mushroom being grilled. Yep, you read that right.
In the clip, McMurray listens as a boiled mushroom is picked from a Beijing-style hotpot and placed on a cone grill, and is impressed by the fungi’s “half cadence” and “pentatonic melody.”
So impressed, in fact, that he then cuts to “a little mushroom symphony!!🍄🟫” he wrote that featuring Chinese instruments like the dizi flute, as well as other standard orchestral instruments like the the bassoon, harp, oboes, clarinets, horns, etc.
The final result had, as viewers noted, all the magic of a Studio Ghibli film (known for movies like Spirit Away and Princess Mononoke) or Disney, particularly Disney’s Mulan and Kung Fu Panda.
“Disney should hire you,” one person said.
Another person commented that “I’m telling my future children that he’s Beethoven,” while another gushed, “I’ve no idea how long I’ve been listening to this on loop. This guy is talented, like actually 100% talented. Like mark my word, my dude, you gonna be composing movie scores soon🔥🔥🔥🔥.”
In addition from glowing praise, Murray’s mini-masterpiece also elicited some pretty fun mycelium-based jokes.
“Are you going to share composer credit and residuals?!?” one person quipped, implying the mushroom should get its fair share.
Another said, “His dying screams were immortalized in symphony forever ✨🎶”
One even created an entire backstory, writing, “The lullaby his mother used to sing him, he chooses to sing it in the historic final moment to remember her and his home. Along with the symphony are the memories of the journey, the friends he made along the way, the places he knew and how it was a wonderful life.”
Aside from mushroom muses, McMurray told Today that he draws inspiration from great composers Tchaikovsky, James Newton Howard, Steven Schwartz, and Alan Menken. Although his particular favorite is John Williams, who wrote the music for the Harry Potter franchise.
Since going viral for his mushroom symphony, McMurray plans on continuing to find inspiration from unusual sources. Below is another piece he created using a small toy violin.
And though he didn’t expect these videos to get the overwhelmingly positive response that they have garnered, he tells Today it’s confirmation that “People love classical music — they just might not know it.”
If you have a certain sound you think McMurray could turn into a movie-worthy soundtrack, shoot him a message on Instagram. He is currently taking requests.