Writing for his large, uniquely-voiced ensemble, and with influences ranging from traditional Norwegian folk music, modern jazz, and contemporary classical music, composer/pianist Ben Morris' dynamic debut surprises and captivates. With his core group—Zosha Warpeha on Norwegian Hardanger fiddle and violin, Juan Olivares on clarinet, Dan Montgomery on bass, Evan Hyde on drums, and Ben on piano—he was invited to premier four original pieces at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2019, setting in motion the inspiration to expand the ensemble & compositions to create "Pocket Guides." With visions of bustling foreign cities, Norse mythology, tundra and waterways, Morris's music is cinematic, surprising and visceral, the rich textures reflecting his experiences living and studying in Norway, Korea, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and now Colorado.

released June 17, 2022

David Bernot — tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones, flute
Juan Gabriel Olivares — clarinet and bass clarinet
Derek Ganong — trumpet and flugelhorn
Magnus Murphy Joelson — trombone
Jack Bogard — violin and mandolin
Zosha Warpeha — hardanger fiddle and violin
Joy Adams — cello
Jonah Udall — guitars
Ben Morris — piano and melodica
Dan Montgomery — bass
Evan Hyde — drums
Sam Gautier — percussion
John Boggs — voice (4)

Composed, arranged, and produced by Ben Morris (ASCAP)
“Bubble in a River” text by E.H. Gombrich (1909-2001)

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Colin Bricker at Mighty Fine Productions, Denver, CO
Mixed by Loren Dorland and Colin Bricker
Recorded January 17-20, 2022

Front cover art by Ryan Schröder
Cover design and layout by John Bishop
Released on OA2/Origin Records

Pocket Guides

Inspired by Proposition 114 that approved the reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado, Colorado Sky tells the story of a wolf cub named Sky who returns home. Sky struggles to adjust to living in Colorado but eventually learns to adapt to his new world, encouraged by his mother Luna and the ancestral wolves.

The piece is staged with front-facing shadow puppetry designed on a tablet, cut out of paper, and projected on a scrim or sheet with handheld flashlights. The show incorporates the shadows of paper and human puppets and household items to animate the atmosphere and create a dynamic and magical world. A video version of the puppetry is available for licensing. 

Art Song Colorado and Sohap Ensemble proudly present this new opera as part of the DASP Productions label of exquisite new and classical song.

Released June 16, 2023

DASP-006
DASP Productions and Art Song Colorado
Colorado Sky
A New Children's Opera
Music by Ben Morris
Libretto by Laura Fuentes
Claire McCahan, Sky
Sabina Balsamo, Luna
Andrew Garland, Humans
Lírios Quartet- Ben Goldestein (violin), Maggie Brady (violin), Yuri Santos (viola), Chas Barnard (cello)
Nicholas Carthy, Conductor

A co-production with Sohap Ensemble.

Original puppetry for the world premiere by Katy Williams Design and Playful Mirrors. The world premiere was produced in partnership with Boulder Opera and Broomfield Council on the Arts and Humanities.

Engineering and Production by Kevin Allan Harbison
Executive Producers, Eapen Leubner and Sabina Balsamo

Colorado Sky

Original score for the documentary "American River" by Scott Morris.

Christopher Molina - shakuhachi
Conor Abbott Brown - clarinet
Max Wolpert, Sarah Hubbard - violins
Jack Bogard - mandolin and violin
Jake Saunders - cello
Ben Morris - piano and synths
Adam Hernandez - guitar
Dan Montgomery - bass
Evan Hyde - percussion
Daniel Whitworth - music copyist

American River

Performed by Derek Ganong and the Boise State Big Band

Hadrosaur Patrol

Wesley Ducote - Piano
Performed at New World Symphony Hall on April 18th, 2022

Secaucus Junction

The Fall of Man and Other Tales: A Seminar Series in Nine Parts

A multi-media opera presented by the ATLAS B2 Blackbox. Premiered April 22nd and 23rd, 2022 in Boulder, Colorado.

Creative Team:

Composer, Producer, and Sound Designer - Ben Morris
Librettist - Laura Fuentes
Additional Lyricists - Gina Stevensen and William Glick
Director - Ben Stasny
Conductor and Music Director - Kedrick Armstrong 
Costume Designer - Sasha de Koninck 
Projection Designers  - Holiday McAllister and Josh Westerman

Cast:

The Chanteuse, The Baby Robot, Church Chorister - Melissa Burke-Manwaring
The River, The Child - Olivia Lerwick
The Baby, The Assistant Manager, The Visionary, Church Chorister -  Claire McCahan
Executive Vice Provost for the End of Days, The Novice, The Visionary - Thomas Bocchi
The Sea, The Busker, The Old Mechanical Crone - John Boggs

Musicians:

Conductor - Kedrick Armstrong
Flute - Grace Law
Clarinet - Kristen Perri
Tenor Saxophone - Pablo Beltran
Trumpet - Madison Sinan
Horn - Abbie French
Trombone -Caleb Arivett
Violin - Max Wolpert
Cello - Nelson Walker
Piano - Maggie Hinchliffe
Electric Guitar - Jason Greenlaw
Electric Bass - Elliot Elder
Drumset and Percussion - Rowan Woodbury

Production Team:

Video and Audio Recording - Jonathan Galle
Sound Assistant - Jessie Lausé
Lighting Designer and Production Manager - Gary McCrumb
Tech Crew Lead - Chris Petillo
Light Board Operator - Kerouac Awbrey
Projections Technician - Thomas Gaither  
Audio Engineer - Adam Yoder
Lead Stage Manager - Skylar Pongratz
Assistant Stage Manager - Leah Abrahamsson
House Videographer - Alexandre Collin
House Manager - Megan Middleton

This work was supported by a Creative Residency in the ATLAS B2 Center for Media, Arts & Performance. 

Special thanks to the University of Colorado Boulder ATLAS Institute and the Youth in Model Railroading (YMR) Train Shoppe in Westminster, Colorado.

The Fall of Man and Other Tales: An Opera in Nine Parts

Hvalsang

Ymir's Bones

Bubbles in a River

Hongdae After Midnight

A Lost Pair of Kites

Sky's Aria

Home At Last (Reprise)

Move Along

No Wolves

Home At Last

Prologue

Derek Ganong — trumpet
Matt Castner — bari sax

Chills And Vapors

Original score for the documentary "American River" by Scott Morris.

Christopher Molina - shakuhachi
Conor Abbot Brown - clarinet
Max Wolpert, Sarah Hubbard - violins
Jack Bogard - mandolin and violin
Jake Saunders - cello
Ben Morris - piano and synths
Adam Hernandez - guitar
Dan Montgomery - bass
Evan Hyde - percussion
Daniel Whitworth - music copyist

The Story of a River

Lower Seventeen

What a River Is

Bulkheads

Rowing Regatta

Entering the Lower Valley

The Great Falls

The Mill at Little Falls

Great Piece Meadows

Flood Plain

Composed for the Rapido! Cycle Seven Composition Competition

Performed by the Atlanta Chamber Players:
Helen Hwaya Kim - violin 
Catherine Lynn - viola
Brad Ritchie - cello 
Elizabeth Pridgen - piano

Performed at the High Art Museum in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14, 2024.
Painting: "Dance on the Beach" by Edvard Munch

Hallingdal Freylekhs

Composed for Scuffed Shoe duet for fixed media and percussion. Performed at the Electric LaTex Festival at Rice University, November 21st, 2015.

Brandon Bell - Drum Set
Craig Hauschildt - Percussion

Fixed Media version
Video performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJZM8fKK8z0&feature=youtu.be

Blue Spruce

Performed 4/12/16 at the Composer's Forum Concert at Rice University

Alex Rosen - Bass
Stephen Barton - Piccolo and alto flute
Kyle Olsen - Bassoon
Timothy Steeves - Violin
Nathan Watts - Cello
Nils Aardahl - Double bass
Cindy Qin - Harp
Wesley Ducote - Piano
Jebat Kee - Conductor

“Imagine time as a river, and that we are flying high above it in an aeroplane. Far below you can just make out the mountain caves of the mammoth-hunters, and the steppes where the first cereals grew. Those distant dots are the pyramids and the tower of Babel. … but in front of us there is nothing but mist, mist that is dense and impenetrable. … Now let us quickly drop down in our plane towards the river. From close up, we can see it is a real river, with rippling waves like the sea. A strong wing is blowing and there are little crests of foam on the waves. Look carefully at the millions of shimmering white bubbles rising and then vanishing with each wave. For a brief instant they are lifted on the wave’s crest and then they sink down and are seen no more. We are like that. Each one of us no more than a tiny glimmering thing, a sparkling droplet on the waves of time which flow past beneath us into an unknown, misty future. We leap up, look around us, and before we know it, we vanish again. And what we call our fate is no more than our struggle in that great multitude of droplets in the rise and fall of one wave.”
-E.H. Gombrich, A Little History of the World (1936)

Bubble in a River

Conducted by Jebat Kee and performed by members of the Shepherd School of Music orchestra. Recorded on 10/23/16.

Beltway 8

Samples of my original score for the documentary "Saving the Great Swamp - The Battle to Defeat the Jetport" by Scott Morris. 

Dan Egan - Trumpet
Thomas Frey - Clarinet
Kyle Comer - Guitar
Joanna Duncan, Emmy Tisdel - Violin
Tonya Burton - Viola
Fanny Spangaro - Cello

Local Lifestyle

from "North Pond - A Musical"

LYRICS:
Never light a fire
That will send up smoke
Hang up the things you need
With wire on an oak

Sleep only in the tent
Don't write down the date
And cover up your scent
While carrying your weight

Live your life in secret
Live the life you chose
I don't really know you
Or what you could expose

I never spent a dime
Never used a map
Read from time to time
Wasted not a scrap

Moved only in the night
Crossed the stream by bridge
While hiding from the light
And searching every fridge

I was never friendly
I think you are friendly
I'm not really sure
If I can endure
Your questions.

Put tarps up when it rains
No drugs to fix your pains
Put trash down underground
So rats don't come around

Never hurt a fly
Keep your socks warm and dry
Memorize your path
And maybe take a bath

Never talk to strangers
Yes you are a stranger
Go write your little tale
While I sit here in jail

My rules have all been broken
Talking here with you
But I do not have a choice
So I will try to see this through

But I like silence.
I just like silence.
Silence.
Silence.

CREDITS:
Michael Hewitt - Joshua Knight

Likai He - Violin
Fanny Spangaro - Cello
Thomas Frey - Clarinet
Sohee Kwon - Piano
Nils Aardahl - Bass
Brady Spitz - Drums

Ben Morris - Composer/engineer
Will Inman - Lyrics for "Joshua, I Like You"
John Albert Harris - video, production, and copying

www.northpondmusical.com

The Rules

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"
Text by Eric Carle
commissioned by the Da Camera Young Artist Program

Bethany Podgorny - Soprano
Sonya Matoussova - Cello

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

from "North Pond - A Musical"

LYRICS:
I know. I know. 
Yes mom, I know, 
the going is slow. 
I write and I write 
but have nothing to show. 

Listen, I know! 
My columns have problems I need to address. 
I know they're a mess. 
They can't go to press. 

I'm behind, I'll confess 
It's making me stressed. 
But I think that I've found a way to progress! 
...More or less. 

So here is the deal, 
I've found a lead, 
and it's got appeal. 

Yes I've said that before, 
and you know how I feel, 
but this time it's for real. 

Well I'm waiting to talk 
with that guy from North Pond. 
A suspect, a reject, 
an old vagabond. 

He's wary, he's scary, elusive and sly, 
People are eager, they're all asking why 
he ran off and hid 
and he slid off the grid 
all without even saying goodbye. 

Well, or even hello. ...I know. 

Yes mom, I know. 
I shouldn't assume. 
But I can't hold my excitement, 
It's filling the room. 

So I wrote him a letter, 
Then two, then four, 
He responded, we bonded, 
we built a rapport. 

And now I have gotten the jail to confirm it. 
They gave me my permit 
to speak with the hermit. 

My schedule looks steady, 
Puzzles for solving. 
Interview's ready. 
The story's evolving. 

How does the jail cell restrict him? 
When will the jury convict him? 
What's the right way to depict him? 
Is he a villain, a vagrant, or victim? 

I know. Yes mom, I know, 
I have one submission. 
This might be my chance 
at that Chicago position. 

I hope the boss will react, 
I'll have something to show. 
This feature is packed, 
Ideas are starting to flow. 
...I know. 

I want to have something to say, 
like Gloria Steinham or Dorothy Day. 
A good story to tell, like from Ida B. Wells, 
one that is more than just whistles and bells. 

I know! 
Although... 
If I write this North Pond story, 
I'll find my way out of this dull purgatory 
Jumpstart my career, 
and do what I planned. 
Move out in a year, 
it's all in my hands. 

Pack my bags for Chicago, 
far from Maine and its snow. 
You'll see, soon I'll be, 
"Chelsea Marlowe: 
The writer who gave this strange hermit a voice 
Who gave him a way out, who gave him a choice." 

I know it will be hard to get him to speak, 
this riddle from North Pond whose answers I seek. 

'Til then, I'll lie low, I know, I know, 
Ok mom, gotta go, tell the family hello. 
Here he comes, gotta run. 
I'm nervous! 
I know.

CREDITS:
Chelsea Helm - Chelsea Marlowe 

Likai He - Violin 
Fanny Spangaro - Cello 
Thomas Frey - Clarinet 
Sohee Kwon - Piano 
Nils Aardahl - Bass 
Brady Spitz - Drums 

Ben Morris - Music, lyrics, engineering 
Will Inman - lyrics

I Know

Derek Ganong, Trumpet
MJMinor, Mix

“Beta Drift” refers to the northwesterly direction of hurricanes; each hurricane has a projected path but may drift east or west from this predicted direction. A two-year collaboration aimed at combining contemporary classical techniques with jazz improvisation, "Beta Drift" similarly drifts from a typical path; it is the child of funky electronica, complex formal structure, lush harmony, and contemporary solo virtuosity.

Beta Drift

Read by the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra. Conducted by Alan Buxbaum on July 15th, 2018.

Fractal Kennings

In Norse mythology, Ymir is the primordial giant whose body makes the universe.  From his flesh comes the earth, from his blood comes the ocean, from his hair the trees, from his brains the clouds, from his skull the heavens, and from his bones come the mountains.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0PBTbUnsu4

Performed by the Shepherd School of Music Symphony Orchestra on March 22nd, 2019. Conducted by Ben Manis.

House of Stairs

A (Short) Story of Earth

Wyatt Wear — Saxophone
Sonya Walker — Trumpet
Ben Morris — Piano
Mike Facey — Bass
Michael D'Angelo — Drums

Recorded 12/13/19 at Mighty Fine Studios, engineered by Colin Bricker

Maria Long — horn
David "Buddy" Deshler — trumpet
John Fabius Solari — piano

Performed for livestream, 4/26/20 at the Arizona State University Katzin Concert Hall

Colorado Quandary

Marlen Nahas — Luz
Katerina Burton — Jenny
Sam Weiser — Ésteban/Gary
Conducted by David Neely

Read at the 2021 Washington National Opera American Opera Initiative Workshop, April

Las Auténticas

Dakota Corbliss — Horn
Matt Castner — Saxophone

Outdoor Warnings

John Boggs — Baritone
Kenneth Johnson — Bass Trombone
Devin Guerrero — Upright Bass

Text by Laura Jane Numeroff

If You Give a Moose a Muffin

Ben Morris is a composer whose music tells unconventional stories and crosses genre boundaries. He is Assistant Professor of Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Ben Morris

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