Awards: Downbeat Award (Graduate Winner), David P. and Susan W. Wohlhueter Jazz Composition Contest at Ithaca College (Honorable Mention), New York Youth Symphony First Music Grand Prize Commission

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Premiere: Reading by NDR Big Band, Hamburg, Germany, April 9th, 2018

 

Duration:  ca. 6 min

 

Program Note:

 

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. Ymir's Bones is inspired by the stomp and swagger of this world-building giant. 

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Additional Performances: 

• University of Georgia New Music Festival, University of Georgia Big Band, February 14, 2026

• Stephen F. Austin State University Swingin' Axes, Nacogdoches, TX, April 21, 2023

• University of Nebraska—Lincoln Jazz Ensemble, Lincoln, NE, March 9, 2022

• Ben Morris Ensemble, Muse Performance Space, Lafayette, CO, January 16, 2022

• University of Colorado Boulder Jazz Combo Concert, December 5, 2019 

• Ben Morris Quintet, Newport Jazz Festival Storyville Stage, August 4, 2019

• Ithaca College Jazz Band and Vincent Gardner, Ithaca, NY, May 2nd, 2019

• Historiefortelling: New Music by Ben Morris, Norges musikkhøgskole, Oslo, Norway, April 25th, 2018