Mr. Gerard Morris, PSYWE Wind Ensemble Conductor
Gerard Morris joined the faculty at University of Puget Sound in fall 2009 as Director of Bands and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music. In 2010 he became an Assistant Professor. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Western Michigan University and a master of music education from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He currently is completing a doctor of music degree in conducting from Northwestern University. His primary conducting teachers include Allan McMurray (University of Colorado) and Mallory Thompson (Northwestern University).
Dedicated to public school music education, Professor Morris has extensive experience teaching both junior and senior high school in Michigan and Colorado. His success has earned him invitations to appear as a guest conductor and clinician for numerous public schools, honor ensembles, and festivals throughout Michigan, Hawai´i, North Carolina, Colorado, and Illinois. He also serves as conductor of the Puget Sound Youth Wind Ensemble.
As a conductor, Professor Morris has appeared at the Midwest Clinic, Colorado Music Festival at Chautauqua, and Steamboat Strings Music in the Mountains Summer Music Festival. He has conducted Boulder Brass, the Illinois Brass Band, Chicago's Sonic Inertia Performance Group, and Northwestern University's Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Contemporary Music Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, and Saxophone Ensemble. In summer 2009 he was a clinician for the Northwestern University Conducting and Wind Music Symposium.
Morris's conducting and teaching are informed by years of professional performing experience as principal euphonium with the Boulder Brass and the United States Marine Corps Band, Hawaii. With these organizations he toured the United States, Australia, and Costa Rica as both an ensemble member and soloist.