Theodore Morrison

Theodore Morrison began composing at the age of forty-two, more than twenty years after he was well established as a conductor. Over the past four decades he has composed a grand opera in two acts, an epic choral symphony, and other sizeable works for voices and orchestra. He has created a substantial body of shorter pieces including four song cycles and individual songs. His music has been performed throughout North America and Europe, and also in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Mr. Morrison's countertenor (or mezzo soprano) cycle Chamber Music, on poems by James Joyce, was commissioned by David Daniels and premiered by him with pianist Martin Katz on an eleven-city American tour in 2002 ending with an acclaimed performance in Carnegie Hall. Daniels and Katz performed Chamber Music twenty-five times in recitals throughout North America and Europe. The London premiere in Barbican Hall was recorded by BBC-TV and broadcast throughout the United Kingdom along with interviews of Daniels and Morrison. Of the song cycle, one British critic wrote, "Not surprisingly, the most moving moments of the evening came with Chamber Music - settings of James Joyce, specially written for Daniels by the American composer Theodore Morrison. Their simple, lyrical style - as naturally formed as any of Benjamin Britten's - was conveyed by the countertenor with complete authority and engaging intimacy."

Mr. Morrison was director of choirs and conductor of the chamber orchestra at Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University from 1975-1978. He taught at Smith College from 1981-1987. As a member of the faculty of the University of Michigan's School of Music from 1987 to 2005 he served as both director of university choirs and director of graduate studies in conducting. He began his professional career at age nineteen as organist-choirmaster at Baltimore's Cathedral of the Incarnation, a post he held for ten years. He founded the Baltimore Choral Arts Society in 1966 and served as its music director for sixteen years. Under his leadership, BCAS became one of the most respected independent choral/ orchestral organizations in the United States. Mr. Morrison worked principally with three instrumental ensembles: the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which he also guest conducted on numerous occasions; the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia (now the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia); and Baltimore’s early music ensemble Pro Musica Rara.