![Conductor Michael Morgan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Conductor_Michael_Morgan.jpg)
Michael DeVard Morgan (September 17, 1957 β August 20, 2021) was an American
conductor. He was
music director of the
Oakland East Bay Symphony
The Oakland East Bay Symphony (OEBS) is a leading orchestra based in Oakland, California. Michael Morgan held the position of music director and conductor from September 1990 until his death in August 2021. The Paramount Theatre has been the hom ...
for 30 years. He was also music director of the
Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra and artistic director of Festival Opera in
Walnut Creek
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bo ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
Early life and education
Michael Morgan was born and raised in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where he attended public schools. His father Willie DeVard Morgan was a biologist; his mother Mabel Morgan was a health researcher. He began to play the piano at age 8, and by age 12 he was conducting two orchestras, one at MacFarland Junior High School, the other at his church. He attended
McKinley Technology High School
McKinley Technology High School is a public citywide 9thβ12th grade high school in the District of Columbia Public Schools in Northeast Washington, D.C. The school, an offshoot of Central High School (now Cardozo Senior High School), originally ...
in D.C., and was the conductor of the D.C. Youth Orchestra. He attended
Oberlin College Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...
but did not graduate. He spent a summer at the Oberlin College Conservatory at
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...
. There he was a student of
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician.
Biography and works
Early years
Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...
and
Seiji Ozawa, and it was at that time that he first worked with
Leonard Bernstein.
Career
In 1979 he became apprentice conductor for the Buffalo Philharmonic. In 1980, he won first prize in the Hans Swarovsky International Conductors Competition in Vienna, Austria and became Assistant Conductor of the
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony orc ...
, under
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer.
Early life and education
Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...
. His operatic debut was in 1982 at the
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
in Mozart's ''
The Abduction from the Seraglio
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. In 1986,
Georg Solti chose him to become the assistant conductor of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
, a position he held for five years under both Solti and
Daniel Barenboim.
He became music director of the
Oakland East Bay Symphony
The Oakland East Bay Symphony (OEBS) is a leading orchestra based in Oakland, California. Michael Morgan held the position of music director and conductor from September 1990 until his death in August 2021. The Paramount Theatre has been the hom ...
in 1991. He served as artistic director of the Oakland Youth Orchestra, music director of the
Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, and artistic director of Festival Opera in
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland. With a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, Walnut Creek s ...
. He also taught the graduate conducting course at the
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California. As of 2021, it had 480 students.
History
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodg ...
. In 2002 and 2003 he taught conducting at the
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
and led conducting workshops around the country. He taught a conducting workshop in Winnipeg, Canada and returned to South America as a guest conductor. As stage director he led productions of Bernstein's
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
at the Oakland East Bay Symphony, and a modern staging of Mozart's ''
Don Giovanni'' at Festival Opera. As a chamber musician (piano) he appeared on the Chamber Music Alive series in Sacramento as well as occasional appearances in the
Bay Area. As a guest conductor he appeared with most of America's major orchestras including the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
,
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
, St. Louis Opera Theater, the
San Francisco Symphony,
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...
, and
Washington National Opera
The Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Perform ...
. In 2012, he was named music director of the
Bear Valley Music Festival
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
.
Awards
In 2005 he was honored by the San Francisco Chapter of The Recording Academy with the 2005 Governors Award for Community Service. On the opposite coast, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) chose Morgan as one of its five 2005 Concert Music Award recipients. ASCAP further honored
Oakland East Bay Symphony
The Oakland East Bay Symphony (OEBS) is a leading orchestra based in Oakland, California. Michael Morgan held the position of music director and conductor from September 1990 until his death in August 2021. The Paramount Theatre has been the hom ...
in 2006 with its Award for Adventurous Programming. The San Francisco Foundation honored him with one of its Community Leadership Awards, and he received an honorary doctorate from
Holy Names University
Holy Names University is a private Roman Catholic university in Oakland, California. It was founded by and remains affiliated with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. It was founded in 1868 and plans to close in 2023.
History
The ...
.
Personal life
Morgan was openly gay. He said that "Being a classical musician, being a conductor, being black, being gay β all of these things put you on the outside, and each one puts you a little further out than the last one" and that "you get accustomed to constructing your own world because there are not a lot of clear paths to follow and not a lot of people that are just like you". A private person, he lived with his mother and sister. For the last seven years of his life he was on daily kidney dialysis. He received a kidney transplant in May 2021, but contracted an infection, and died on August 20, 2021 at the age of 63.
Footnotes
See also
*
Black conductors
Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or j ...
External links
Michael Morgan bioOakland East Bay SymphonyOakland Youth OrchestraSacramento Philharmonic Orchestra*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Michael
1957 births
2021 deaths
People from Oakland, California
American male conductors (music)
African-American classical musicians
African-American conductors (music)
LGBT classical musicians
Music directors
21st-century American conductors (music)
21st-century American male musicians
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century American male musicians
Classical musicians from Washington, D.C.
LGBT African Americans
American gay musicians
20th-century African-American musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
LGBT people from Washington, D.C.
LGBT people from California
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century LGBT people