BEN MORRIS benjaminmorrismusic.com | bmorriscomposer@gmail.com 973-722-0460 | 80 Lafayette Ave, Chatham, NJ 07928
EDUCATION 2017 — M.M. in Music Composition, Rice University Shepherd School of Music, Houston, TX 2015 — B.M. in Music Composition/History, University of Miami Frost School of Music, Miami, FL
ADDITIONAL STUDIES, FESTIVALS, RESIDENCIES, and FELLOWSHIPS 2017-2018 — Fulbright Grant, Norges Musikkhøgskole (Norwegian Academy of Music), Oslo, Norway - Private study with jazz composer Helge Sunde 2018 — Aspen Music Festival and School, Susan and Ford Schumann Center for Composition Studies 2017— International Gugak Workshop at the National Gugak Center, Seoul, South Korea 2017— University of Nebraska – Lincoln Chamber Music Institute, Lincoln, Nebraska 2016 — highScore Music Festival, Pavia, Italy 2015-2016 — American Composers’ Orchestra Jazz Composers’ Institute and Reading Sessions, NYC 2014 — New Music on the Point, Leicester, Vermont 2013 — Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival Emerging Composer Fellowship, New York, NY
TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2015-2017 — Rice University Shepherd School of Music Brown Teaching Assistantship, Houston, TX
- for Undergraduate Theory, Cross-cultural Asian Music, Creativity Up Close (an interdisciplinary music/neuroscience course), and REMLabs Electronic Music Labs, Aural Skills
2016-2017 — “Arts Integrated” Teaching in Houston Elementary Schools, Da Camera Young Artist, Houston, TX
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 2011-Present — Self-employed Composer, Producer, Orchestrator, Copyist, and Pianist, NYC 2016-2017 — Composer-in-Residence, Da Camera Young Artist Program, Houston, TX 2015-2016 — Composer-in-Residence and Curator, Foundation for Modern Music, Houston, TX 2015-2016 — Recording Engineer, Video Operator, and Stage Manager, Rice University Shepherd School of Music Concert Halls, Houston, TX 2012-2015 — Orchestrator and Copyist, Michael Bacon’s Film Music Studio, New York City, NY
AWARDS and ACTIVITIES 2016 — International Society of Bassists’ David Walker Composition Competition Grand Prize, Double Bass Ensemble Division 2016 — Downbeat Award, Best Large Ensemble Jazz Composition, Graduate Division 2017, 2016, 2015 — ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Competition, Finalist 2016 — BMI Young Composer Competition, Finalist 2016 —New York Youth Symphony First Music Jazz Competition, Honorable Mention 2016 —Lake George Music Festival Composition Competition, Semi-finalist 2015 — LaTex Electronic Music Festival, Participant 2015 — Frost School of Music Orchestra Composition Competition, Grand Prize Winner 2015 —Roe and Penny Stamps Annual Combined Concert, Resident Composer and Conductor 2014 — ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award 2014, 2013, 2012 — Festival Miami Emerging Composers Concert, Competition Winner 2014, 2013 — Klezmer Company Orchestra Composition Competition, Prize and Commission 2010 — New Jersey Music Educators’ Association Young Composers Award