John Howell Morrison (composer)
Encyclopedia
John Howell Morrison is a contemporary classical
composer and educator. His works have been commissioned and performed by the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble, Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble, and Galhano/Montgomery Duo, among others. His recording, Hard Weather Makes Good Wood, was released on the Innova Music label in 2003. Morrison held the Chair
in Composition and Theory at the Longy School of Music
from 2003 to 2010.
, John Morrison began studying piano at age nine. He later learned to play the trumpet and found his interest in contemporary music expanding until, as a high school student at the Governor's School of North Carolina
, his repertoire consisted almost entirely of 20th-century music.
Morrison studied music as an undergraduate at Davidson College
. He completed a Master of Music
in composition at the University of Tennessee
under John Anthony Lennon
, Kenneth Jacobs, and Allen Johnson. He later received a Regents Fellowship to study and work as a teaching assistant at the University of Michigan
under William Bolcom
, William Albright
, Nicholas Thorne, George Wilson
, and Leslie Bassett
where he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts
degree in 1991. His doctoral dissertation was Hear What the Earth Says, a composition for large orchestra in three movements. Morrison has since taught at Tennessee State University
, Luther College
, Case Western Reserve University
, Cleveland State University
, the Cleveland Institute of Music
, and Oberlin College
. He has served as a member of the board of directors for the Iowa Composers Former and the president of the Cleveland Composers Guild.
A resident of Medford, Massachusetts
, Morrison teaches at the Longy School of Music
, where he served as Chair of the Theory and Composition Department from 2003 to 2010. His wife is the keyboardist
and conductor Vivian Montgomery.
, and the Cleveland Composers Guild. He has also received grants from the Ohio Arts Council
(2002 Individual Artist Fellowship), American Composers Forum (Composers Commissioning Project and Performance Incentive Fund), Meet the Composer, Iowa Arts Council, Luther College
, and the American Music Center. Morrison has also received funding for residencies at the MacDowell Colony
, the Schweitzer Institute, June in Buffalo, and the Charles Ives
Center for American Music. Morrison publishes through the University of Arizona Press
and M. Baker Publications.
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
composer and educator. His works have been commissioned and performed by the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble, Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble, and Galhano/Montgomery Duo, among others. His recording, Hard Weather Makes Good Wood, was released on the Innova Music label in 2003. Morrison held the Chair
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in Composition and Theory at the Longy School of Music
Longy School of Music
The Longy School of Music of Bard College is a conservatory located near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Boston...
from 2003 to 2010.
Biography
A native of North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, John Morrison began studying piano at age nine. He later learned to play the trumpet and found his interest in contemporary music expanding until, as a high school student at the Governor's School of North Carolina
Governor's School of North Carolina
The Governor's School of North Carolina is a publicly funded six-week residential summer program for gifted high school students in the state of North Carolina....
, his repertoire consisted almost entirely of 20th-century music.
Morrison studied music as an undergraduate at Davidson College
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
. He completed a Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
in composition at the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
under John Anthony Lennon
John Anthony Lennon
John Anthony Lennon is an American composer of contemporary classical music based in Georgia. He was raised in Mill Valley, California, and is a professor of composition at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia...
, Kenneth Jacobs, and Allen Johnson. He later received a Regents Fellowship to study and work as a teaching assistant at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
under William Bolcom
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
, William Albright
William Albright (musician)
William Albright was an American composer, pianist and organist.Albright was born in Gary, Indiana, and began learning the piano at the age of five, and attended the Juilliard Preparatory Department , the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan , where he studied composition with...
, Nicholas Thorne, George Wilson
George Balch Wilson
George Balch Wilson is an American composer who is particularly known for his contributions to electronic music. In 1955 he won the Prix de Rome for composition. He taught for more than 30 years on the faculty of the University of Michigan where he notably founded and directed the school's...
, and Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett is an American composer of classical music, and the University of Michigan’s Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition...
where he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts
Doctor of Musical Arts
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree is a doctoral academic degree in music. The D.M.A. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The D.M.A...
degree in 1991. His doctoral dissertation was Hear What the Earth Says, a composition for large orchestra in three movements. Morrison has since taught at Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...
, Luther College
Luther College (Iowa)
Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
, Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
, Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University is a public university located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of Fenn College, and it absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1969...
, the Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music is an independent music conservatory located in the University Circle district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States and is overseen by president Joel Smirnoff and Adrian Daly, dean....
, and Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
. He has served as a member of the board of directors for the Iowa Composers Former and the president of the Cleveland Composers Guild.
A resident of Medford, Massachusetts
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
, Morrison teaches at the Longy School of Music
Longy School of Music
The Longy School of Music of Bard College is a conservatory located near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Boston...
, where he served as Chair of the Theory and Composition Department from 2003 to 2010. His wife is the keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
and conductor Vivian Montgomery.
Commissions and premieres
Morrison has received frequent commissions from many organizations, including the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Fromm Foundation, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, the Detroit Chamber Winds, Antiqua Nova, the Galhano/Montgomery Duo, Davidson CollegeDavidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
, and the Cleveland Composers Guild. He has also received grants from the Ohio Arts Council
Ohio Arts Council
The Ohio Arts Council is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio.Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage." Each year it awards grants to arts organizations and individuals throughout the state...
(2002 Individual Artist Fellowship), American Composers Forum (Composers Commissioning Project and Performance Incentive Fund), Meet the Composer, Iowa Arts Council, Luther College
Luther College (Iowa)
Luther College is a four-year, residential liberal arts institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in Decorah, Iowa, USA...
, and the American Music Center. Morrison has also received funding for residencies at the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, the Schweitzer Institute, June in Buffalo, and the Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
Center for American Music. Morrison publishes through the University of Arizona Press
University of Arizona Press
The University of Arizona Press, a publishing house founded in 1959 as a department of the University of Arizona, is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and regional books...
and M. Baker Publications.
Selected premieres
- The composition of Rising Blue (1996) for violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and tapeMagnetic tape sound recordingThe use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930. Magnetizable tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries. It did this by giving artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and...
was supported by a grant from Luther College. It was premiered in October 1996 by Virginia Strauss at Luther College in Decorah, IowaDecorah, IowaDecorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,172 at the 2000 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S...
and received several subsequent performances, including that by the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble and soloist Troy Gardner in New York City in October 1999.
- Light Possessing Darkness (1997) for alto saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, piano was commissioned by the American saxophonist Jeremy Koch who premiered the work on February 2, 1998 at the Iowa Composers Forum Annual Festival. The work has since been performed by Phillip Staüdlin, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Paul Bro, and Tim McAllister and appears on the CD, America's Millennium Tribute to Adolphe Sax, Vol. 3.
- Hard Weather Makes Good Wood (1999) for string quartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
and tape, commissioned by the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble, premiered on June 11, 1999 in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
and was later toured by the ensemble, including a performances at the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, CaliforniaSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, at the Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles County Museum of ArtThe Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
. The work was later recorded on the Innova label as the title piece of the album Hard Weather Makes Good Wood (Innova Recordings #584)
- Twisted Little Ground (2000) for recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
and harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
was commissioned by the Galhano/Montgomery Duo and premiered by the ensemble on January 28, 2000 at the Weisman Art MuseumWeisman Art MuseumThe Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum located on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. A teaching museum for the university since 1934, the museum is named for Frederick R. Weisman, and was designed by the renowned architect Frank Gehry...
in St. Paul, Minnesota, with subsequent performances in Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Decorah, Iowa, and Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. The piece appears on their recording Songs in the Ground, released in 2003 on the 10,000 Lakes label.
- Whipping Post (2008) an arrangement of the Allman Brothers song "Whipping Post"Whipping Post (song)"Whipping Post" is a song by The Allman Brothers Band. Written by Gregg Allman, the five-minute studio version first appeared on their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band. But the song's full power only manifested itself in concert, when it was the basis for much longer and more intense...
for string quartet was commissioned for the inaugural concert of the "Longy at the RegattaBar" series and was premiered on April 11, 2008 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by the Pacifica QuartetPacifica QuartetThe Pacifica Quartet is an internationally recognized string quartet based in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, where they are faculty members at the University of Illinois. Its members are: Simin Ganatra, first violin; Sibbi Bernhardsson, second violin; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; and Brandon Vamos,...
.
Recordings
- Hard Weather Makes Good Wood – Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble; soloists, Troy Gardner, Maria Jette, and Vivian Montgomery. This recording entirely devoted to Morrison's compositions contains Hard Weather Makes Good Wood, The Heart Poems, Rising Blue, and My Love Lies Down that Long Dirt Road. Label: Innova #584.
- America's Millennium Tribute to Adolphe Sax, Vol. 3 – (Track 12 Light Possessing Darkness performed by Jeremy Koch on saxophone and Doug Schneider on piano). Label: University of Arizona Recordings #3098.
- Songs in the Ground – (Track 6: Twisted Little Ground performed by Cléa Galhano on recorder and Vivian Montgomery on harpsichord). Label: 10,000 Lakes/The Schubert Club #114.
List of works
- Fells (2010) for flute, clarinet, cello, and piano
- Hollow Box (2010) for trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and resonating piano - Compass (2009) for baritone saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, and dancer - Ember (2009) for 2 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s and 2 accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
s - Whipping Post (2008) arrangement of Allman Brothers song for string quartet
- Fanfare for KZ (2007) for three trumpets
- Lonesome Whistle (2007) for unaccompanied flute
- Deepening Groove Near Walden Pond (2007) for chamber orchestra
- Ten Violins (2006) for ten violins
- Trio (2006) for violin, cello, and piano
- Nanocosmos (The Book of EzraBook of EzraThe Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra-Nehemiah, the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era...
) (2004–06) for piano - Groan (2005) for saxophone quartet
- Breathing Memory (2004) for accordion, harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, and pre-recorded CD - Aquarium (2004) film score
- TTC #12, a realization in sound of Tao Te ChingTao Te ChingThe Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
poem 12 (2004) for treble choir - The Fall (2003) for band
- Crows (2002) for alto saxophone and sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
set to a poem by Xue Di - Brown Dog (2001) for middle school band
- Oh Mary (2001) for SATBSATBIn music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work...
choir and string orchestra - The Heart Poems (2001) for soprano and piano set to poems by Ruth Montgomery
- Charon (2001) for unaccompanied bass clarinet
- Twisted Little Ground (2000) for recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
and harpsichord - In God We Trust performance piece with recorded and real-time interactive computer-processed sound
- Hard Weather Makes Good Wood (1999) for string quartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
and tape - Grace (1998) for a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
choir - Light Possessing Darkness (1997) for alto saxophone, piano
- Rising Blue (1996) for violin and tape
- Dark Hollow (1996) for string orchestra with flugelhornFlugelhornThe flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
solo - String of Pearls (1994) for unaccompanied tuba
- Two Poems of Wendell BerryWendell BerryWendell Berry is an American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. He is a prolific author of novels, short stories, poems, and essays...
(1994) for soprano, clarinet, violoncello - Spin Control (1994) for chamber orchestra
- Elegy (Separation) (1992) for flugelhorn, oboe, clarinet, violin
- My Love Lives Down That Long Dirt Road (1992) for harpsichord
- 57" (Landscape, Report) (1992) for computer-generated four-channel tape
- Hear What the Earth Says (1991) for orchestra
- Excursive Sonata for thirteen musicians (1988) for wind ensemble
- Partial Tendencies (1988) for computer-generated four-channel tape
- Over the Head (with a stick) (1987, revised 1998) for percussion trio
- Wright Songs (1987) for bass-baritoneBass-baritoneA bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
and string trio - Voices Bending Open (1987) for violin, tape, and optional dance
- Piece for Solo Trumpet (1986) for b-flat or c trumpet
- Blues Outside Inside Shadow (1984) for piano
- Prevalent Modes (1984) for soprano saxophone and tape