I. It Rained on me in the Desert (Big Bend)

II. Scenery is Distant and Impersonal (Zion)

III. There are Bugs and They Will Bite You on Your Face (Sequoia)

IV. It's a Hole. A Very, Very Large Hole. (Grand Canyon)

V. Save Yourself Some Money... Boil Some Water at Home (Yellowstone Hot Springs)

VII. Looks Nothing Like the License Plate (Arches)

Quality Over Opinion

Laughing in Her Sleep

Recorded by the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra on November 9, 2022; conducted by Alan Kay. Staller Center for the Arts, Stony Brook University. Soli Deo Gloria.

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Program Notes:

To plod is "to move or walk heavily or laboriously" or "to work or act perseveringly or monotonously." In any kind of art, it's tempting to wait until inspiration strikes before we get to work, but for most of us, this would mean that we accomplish little at all. Most days, we need to get up, keep our noses to the grindstone, and hope something happens that's worth keeping. This piece is a meditation on the commitment to plod along in whatever work we have in front of us. One step at a time, often a laborious step, is all we can do, but we must persevere in the pursuit of beauty.

Plod — for orchestra (2022)

Harrietlehre for Orchestra (Excerpt)

Some Unused Songs

End of The Night

Disappear Again

nothing

High Five

A Pill in the Sea

You Belonged

It All Passes

Subpar Parks is a series of miniatures loosely inspired by Amber Share’s poster art featuring negative reviews of the American National Parks.  There are seven movements, each based on a negative review from Yelp, Google, and other online platforms. In each movement, I depict the comedic character of each review and at times blend in and contrast my own personal experiences with the beauty of these parks. The piece reflects humanity’s ability to be bored by even the most magnificent sights but encourages the listener to go deeper and find unexpected beauty in the seemingly mundane. The piece was commissioned by the Houston-based contemporary music group Musiqa for their 2024-2025 season.

Premiere September 28, 2024 at the Midtown Arts and Theatre Center (MATCH) in Houston, TX

Garrett Hudson — flute
Yevgeny Dokshansky — clarinet
Astrid Nakamura — violin
Chris Ellis — cello
Chelsea de Souza — piano

Video courtesy of Full Media Jacket and Musiqa. Audio courtesy Francis X. Schmidt and Musiqa.

Subpar Parks

Time Machines (2025) Live Performance
Commissioned by the Bowling Green University Wind Symphony

Premiered on April 17, 2025 by the BGSU Wind Symphony
Dr. Kenneth Thompson, Conductor
© 2025 Harriet Steinke

Time Machines (Live April 2025 @ Bowling Green)

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.

Subpar Parks

Ben Morris

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