Longleaf is an evening-length multimedia work by composer Ben Morris commissioned by Loop38. The piece tells the story of the longleaf pine forest, an endangered ecosystem spread throughout the American Southeast with its last stands in rural East Texas. The piece traces the history of the tree and the timber industry in East Texas with video projections, historical photographs, natural soundscapes, and music, raise awareness about the ecological importance of native forests, and encourage forest preservation and appreciation in the future.

The residency at Stephen F. Austin marks the work’s world premiere and will be accompanied by a recording session, several outreach events such as masterclasses, a panel discussion, and a walking tour of Stephen F. Austin’s Experimental Forest. There is an additional performance at MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston).

John Coltrane: Legacy features Joe Lovano and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edwin Outwater. A world premiere event featuring opulent new orchestral arrangements that take you through hits from the 50s and 60s, including “Alabama,” “Blue Train,” and more, with never-before-seen visuals from classic jazz photographers. Ben Morris arranged "My One and Only Love," "Impressions," and "Crescent" for the event. 

Ben will work with poet Katharyn Howd Machan, soprano Perri di Christina, and pianist Brendon Shapiro on a new art song cycle to be premiered at the Longy School of Music.

Dance music past and present was the theme of this faculty recital—Baroque styles and music for tuba and electronics are among the different variations on the theme. Dr. Samuel Ambrose, tuba, was featured, performing with several faculty of the Hayes School of Music: Tyler Dellaperute, piano; Dr. Dakota Corbliss, horn; Brent Bingham and Dr. James Stokes, trumpets; Dr. Joseph Brown and student Kenneth Schechter, trombones; Dr. Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham, flute; and Dr. Brady Spitz, percussion. The concert included the premiere of Galanteries by Ben Morris.

Ben was commissioned by the Glimmerglass Festival to create a youth opera with librettist Laura Fuentes, "The Rip Van Winkles." Glimmerglass presented this family-friendly youth opera at the Alice Busch Opera Theater mainstage for their 2023 season. It celebrated the talents of some of the youngest performers in the Cooperstown, New York community alongside Festival artists and a world-class production team.

COLORADO SKY is a family-friendly shadow puppet opera about a wolf cub named Sky who tries to fit in and make friends in his new home in Colorado. Throughout the opera, Sky tries to connect with various animals and humans in the landscape, but is rejected. Encouraged by his mother Luna, Sky realizes that he has to be himself and howl to the moon to connect with his ancestors. The opera was inspired by Colorado Proposition 114, a proposal to reintroduce wolves back into the state of Colorado which passed in 2020. The opera was commissioned by Sohap Ensemble in collaboration with Art Song Colorado, Boulder Opera, and the Broomfield Council on the Arts and Humanities. The opera premiered June 3 and 4 at the Broomfield Auditorium and Dairy Center, respectively.

Hongdae After Midnight, a track off of Ben's debut album, Pocket Guides, won a 2023 ASCAP Herb Alpert Jazz Composers Award. 

Ben attended the Composing in the Wilderness program in Denali National Park, composing a work for Corvus Ensemble inspired by his experience hiking in the park.

The Hill of Three Wishes, premiered and commissioned by the Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Cynthia Katsarelis, premiered at the Mountain View Methodist Church in Boulder, CO.

Ben Boskoff, Valerie Sly, and Ya-Ting Yang premiered Strikes Storm with poetry by Marissa Davis 

Pocket Guides, my debut album, released on OA2/Origin Records on June 17th, 2022!

The album is available to order on Bandcamp and stream on Spotify, Apple Music, OA2 Music, and other major music streaming platforms.

The Fall of Man and Other Tales is a multimedia opera in nine parts commissioned by the ATLAS B2 Blackbox at CU Boulder. Featuring a libretto by Laura Fuentes and projections by Holiday McAllister and Josh Westerman, the work takes the listener on an immersive journey through different time periods in human history, from prehistory to the far future, exploring themes of isolation and our relationship with our environment. The piece premiered April 22 and 23, 2022 at 7:30 pm. 

Ben was appointed Assistant Professor of Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University, teaching applied composition, film scoring, jazz improvisation, and orchestration. He co-leads a dynamic studio of graduate and undergraduate students, including an expanding online master's program.

In collaboration with Art Song Colorado, Sohap Ensemble (Sabina Balsamo and Chas Barnard) commissioned a new chamber opera about the reintroduction of wolves to Colorado. This family-friendly story features front-facing shadow puppetry and follows a wolf cub named Sky as he tries to fit in and make friends in his new home.

The piece features a libretto by Laura Fuentes and was premiered in summer 2023. 

The Ben Morris Ensemble recorded Ben's eight original tunes for his debut album, Pocket Guides, with engineer Colin Bricker at Mighty Fine Studios in Denver, Colorado. The music released in June 2022.

In advance of recording Ben's debut album, Pocket Guides, the Ben Morris Ensemble performed the eight original tunes on the album live at Muse Performance Space. The exciting set of original music was influenced by traditional Norwegian folk music, modern jazz, and contemporary classical music. The ensemble’s unique instrumentation—saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, Hardanger fiddle, mandolin, cello, and rhythm section—created a diverse tapestry of music reflecting Ben’s experiences living and studying in Norway, Korea, Colorado, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey.

Pianist Maggie Hinchliffe and guitarist Ilan Blanck performed Ben's "Pandemic Poems and Pieces" and "Map of My Room" respectively at CU Pendulum Concert Series. 

Ben's debut album, Pocket Guides, was released in Spring 2022. This project was the culmination of years of work, brought together by a fantastic group of twelve musicians.

The compositions on Pocket Guides take elements from traditional Norwegian folk music, modern jazz, and contemporary classical music, tied together by a strong sense of storytelling. This album acts as a kind of travelogue, reflecting Ben's experiences living and studying in Norway, Korea, Colorado, Texas, and New Jersey.

Ben launched a successful Indiegogo campaign in Fall 2021 to help fund the album.

American River, a documentary by Scott Morris, premiered at Montclair Film in NJ, on October 23rd and 24th. Ben composed an original score for the film. 

Ben spent the month of October 2021 at the I-Park Residency in Connecticut completing a song cycle based on a text by Laura Fuentes. 

Ben conducted dissertation research at the jazz archives in the National Library of Norway in Oslo, the University of Adger in Kristiansand, and NTNU in Trondheim, funded by an American-Scandinavian Foundation Grant. His DMA dissertation examined the influence of Norwegian folk and contemporary European art music on the Norwegian jazz scene, 1970-present.

Ben's electroacoustic music was featured on two album releases, Teleconference by Vice City Brass (August 1st, 2021) and terraform by PIVOT Duo (August 6th, 2021). 2nd Avenue Saturdays, Einstein on South Beach, and Outdoor Warnings will be included among newly commissioned works by the ensembles.

Ben worked with librettist Nnamdi Nwankwo to develop a new opera, Perspective, under the direction of Leigh Holman, Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer, and Bud Coleman, at the University of Colorado Boulder's 2021 New Opera Workshop. 

Ben attended the summer 2021 Source Song Festival, writing a new art song with text by poet Joyce Sutphen and working with Libby Larsen and David Evan Thomas.

Ben composed a work for orchestra for Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra's 2021-2022 season, which premiered in November 2022.

"How it’s Musically Made" is a podcast focused on the reinvention of the art song tradition through interdisciplinary collaborations. Over nine weeks, three groups of poet, composer, vocalist, and pianist each collaborated to create an original art song. Hosted by pianist Maggie Hinchliffe and composer Ben Morris, the podcast was a look into each step of the creative process through weekly interviews. This project was supported in part by a grant from the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research at the Eastman School of Music.

The Washington National Opera paired Ben with librettist and playwright Laura Fuentes to create a new opera for their American Opera Initiative Program. The work was premiered at the Kennedy Center in April 2021.

Ben received a commission from the New York Youth Symphony to compose a new big band chart for the 2020-2021 season, which was premiered in NYC and at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 2022.

The Playground Ensemble was scheduled to perform Ben's A (Short) Story of Earth for their Colorado Composer's Concert in February 2021. The ensemble also commissioned Ben to write a new work for their 2021 season. In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the premiere's date was rescheduled to 2021.

Ymir's Bones won a best graduate composition award in the 2020 Downbeat Student Music Awards.

Ben composed a new work on commission for the Colorado State Music Teacher's Association, which premiered virtually in May 2020.

Ben composed Smear Frame for the NOW Ensemble as part of the Red Note Music Festival in Normal, Illinois in February 2020. 

Pianist Maggie Hinchliffe and soprano Ali Rose Hotz premiered Ben's song cycle Routine Surprise, with original text by Maggie. Postponed due to COVID-19.

Morris had music featured on the Pendulum New Music series at the University of Colorado Boulder, including the premiere of A (Short) Story of Earth by the Boulder Altitude Directive Ensemble.

Morris lead his quintet on the Storyville Stage, featuring Juan Gabriel Olivares, Zosha Warpeha, Dan Montgomery, and Evan Hyde. The quintet performed a short set of original music. 

Ben was in residence at the CATWALK Institute to collaborate on The Beowulf Project with the North Pacific Gyre Theatre company. The project was an exciting, multidisciplinary theatrical performance, featuring live and electronic music drawing from Norwegian folk influences and early music. 

It’s become an annual tradition: every year since 2016, The ASCAP Foundation has partnered with the Newport Jazz Festival to offer a live slot at the Festival to an exceptional recipient of the Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. In 2019, the Herb Alpert judges chose Ben Morris – a versatile composer/pianist equally accomplished in the jazz and classical realms. He joins a stellar lineup of ASCAP jazz talent, including Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Sons of Kemet, Makaya McCraven, Buika, Jenny Scheinman and more. ASCAP caught up with Ben Morris a few weeks before his Newport debut, to find out what we can expect from his set.

Morris spent a month at the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts in Wyoming working on a new cantata with a libretto by Marec Béla Steffens.

Morris was an ATLAS Fellow at CU Boulder, pursuing his DMA in music composition Fall 2019-May 2022.  In the third year of his studies, he developed a multimedia project in the ATLAS black box theatre.

Edvard received an ASCAP Herb Alpert Jazz Composer's Award. The extended big-band piece premiered in Oslo in 2017 at the Norwegian Academy of Music as part of the Serendip Festival.