默里·佩拉希亚1947年4月19日出生于纽约一个犹太人家庭，5岁开始学习钢琴，19岁进入曼纳音乐学院学习作曲和指挥。1968年起，师从著名钢琴教育家霍尔晓夫斯基学习。
1972年，佩拉希亚在“里兹国际钢琴比赛”上获得头奖，据当时的媒体报道，虽然自初赛开始，佩拉希亚在演奏的技巧和准确度上就险象环生，但奇怪的是，无论观众或评委显然都被他抒情幽雅的琴风所倾倒，以致他一路竟能过关斩将，击败包括席夫和内田光子在内的众多参赛高手，一举夺得桂冠。获奖使他从此开始了独奏生涯。
1975年，佩拉希亚与年轻的大提琴家哈雷尔一起获得“第一届菲舍尔音乐表演奖”。随后，佩拉希亚辗转驰骋于欧美大陆，继而逐步扩展到世界各地，知名度迅速提高。而他一开始在比赛中体现出的特殊气质，也成为他艺术风格的重要标志。
或许是从小受喜欢听歌剧的父亲的影响，佩拉希亚曾多次表示对歌剧的热爱，并强调以旋律线条和乐句作为音乐基石的观点：“任何音乐理念都出自如歌的旋律线条的启发，而非独立的音符，乐曲结构是由各种戏剧效果铺陈串连而成的一条长线，如果不从这条长线上着眼，个别的音乐理念是无从明辨的。”而佩拉希亚自己则凭借这种抒情典雅、注重歌唱性的演奏风格折服了全世界的乐评家和音乐爱好者。他在SONY公司历时近十年时间录制完成的《莫扎特协奏曲全集》，更被认为是当代钢琴演奏家中的最佳诠释之一。
出于对莫扎特音乐的共同喜好，佩拉希亚自1987年起开始了与著名钢琴家霍洛维兹的密切交往。他每周日都要从伦敦打长途电话问候在纽约定居的霍洛维兹，一有机会就要前往纽约登门求教。霍洛维兹曾对他说：“要超越一个技匠，必须先具备技匠的身手。” 霍洛维兹的指点极大地影响了佩拉希亚，他开始领悟到演奏技巧并不仅仅意味着机械式的技术，而是指从乐曲的宏观层面出发，将各种音乐理念与音色、分句融为一体，从而最大程度地揭示音乐内在情感的表现手段。他的演奏风格开始向更为广阔的空间转变，并在霍洛维兹的建议下开始演奏李斯特的狂想曲、拉赫玛尼诺夫的练习曲等先前他认为“华而不实”的曲目。
1991年，佩拉希亚遭遇手指受伤的困扰，从最初久病不愈的右手拇指发炎到伤疤息肉、以至最后发现病根所在的小骨刺，其间经过多次误诊及四次手术，原定七个月的修养竟拖了将近四年时间。佩拉希亚一度面临演奏生涯终结的阴影，他曾低调地表示：“真不甘心就此成了一名指挥家或钢琴教师。”的确，对于任何一位钢琴演奏家而言，这都是一个沉重的打击。
然而，痛苦与极度的绝望竟奇妙地深化了他的演奏境界。在四年的养病期间，佩拉希亚潜心研读巴赫的音乐，在这些极度抽象的音乐世界里挖掘出了一片新天地。当最终病愈后，浴火重生的佩拉希亚录制了《亨德尔、斯卡拉蒂键盘作品集》，他藉着现代钢琴大胆地表现出千变万化的丰富音质，得到了世界乐坛的一致肯定。

In a field in which each season heralds the arrival of new "talents" who are soon forgotten, pianist Murray Perahia has remained a reliable and immensely gifted presence on the international scene for more than three decades. Perahia began his music studies at the age of five with lessons from Jeanette Haien, who remained his teacher until he was well into his teens. In 1964 Perahia entered the Mannes College of Music in New York, where he studied composition and conducting; though both endeavors remained secondary to his career as a pianist, the latter proved particularly useful when, decades later, Perahia conducted and recorded a complete cycle of Mozart's piano concerti from the keyboard. Perahia pursued further piano studies with Artur Balsam and Mieczyslaw Horszowski. He also attended the Marlboro Festival in Vermont, which brought him into contact and collaboration with such artists as Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals, and the Budapest Quartet.

In 1968 Perahia made his Carnegie Hall debut to much acclaim, and his concert career blossomed in short order. He made headlines in 1972 by taking top honors at the prestigious Leeds Piano Competition, the first American to do so—and, no less, by unanimous decision. Perahia's success at Leeds led to his London recital debut at Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1973. Later that year he appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival, where he worked closely with the festival's founders, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. After Britten's declining health made it impossible for him to continue as Pears' accompanist, Perahia became one of Pears' frequent and favorite recital partners. In 1975 Perahia shared with cellist Lynn Harrell the first Avery Fisher Prize, intended to aid in the development of the most promising American musical careers. In 1981 he was appointed co-artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival, a position he retained through 1989.

Perahia is often described as a "musician's musician," one who does not adopt a virtuoso persona but performs with a distinctive directness, without exaggerated or demonstrative gestures. His playing is clean and meticulous, his sound cool, transparent, sparkling, and exquisitely shaded. He is best known for his performances of Classical and early Romantic repertoire; from the late 1990s he developed an especial reputation as an interpreter of Bach. In 2000, his recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations was awarded two Grammy nominations for Best Classical Album and Best Instrumental Soloist.

Perahia's popularity has been sustained largely through his extensive catalogue of recordings. He signed an exclusive contract with CBS Masterworks in 1973 and has remained with that label through its corporate transformation into Sony Classics. His recordings have received numerous accolades, including multiple Grammies and Gramophone Awards for Instrumental Record of the Year. In addition to his Mozart concerto cycle, he has recorded all five Beethoven piano concerti with Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as Schumann's complete works for piano and orchestra.