Assessing How We Define Diversity - Seattle University

Campus
O B S E R V E R
pitch perfect
Music Major
Quinton Morris to direct chamber and instrumental music
Quinton Morris is a multihyphenate
in the world of
music: notable violinist
and chamber-musician,
t e a c h e r - c o n d u c t o r ,
artistic director and founder of a
nationally recognized octet.
This fall he added another role to
his expansive résumé: instructor and
director of chamber and instrumental
music at Seattle University.
It’s a homecoming for Morris, who
hails from Renton, Wash. In the years
since he first held the
violin Morris has made
his mark on national and
international stages and
with the Young Eight.
The Young Eight is an
octet he put together in
2002, during his senior
year at North Carolina School of the
Arts, to showcase classical musicians
of color.
Morris was just 8 years old when
he picked up the violin, and more
than 21 years later it remains his
instrument of choice.
“I didn’t grow up in a musical
family, but I was influenced by my
environment,” he says. “My friends
played violin, so I started to play
violin too. …One reason I kept going
was because I was told I could get a
scholarship to college.”
While today he’s known for his
achievements in chamber music,
Morris’ career path could have been
very different had he followed his
early aspirations. Out of high school
his plans were to become a lawyer,
and he took prelaw classes at Xavier
University. After three years, though,
he changed course and decided to
“Anyone can learn, anyone can
play an instrument and anyone
can know music.”
Quinton Morris
focus on music as a career. He’s never
looked back.
In addition to teaching and
conducting, the graduate of the
North Carolina School of the Arts
and the Boston Conservatory is
working on his doctorate, which he
expects to complete in spring 2008
at the University of Texas, Austin.
While a student in Boston and Texas,
Morris got his first taste of teaching,
something that was initially not part
of his long-term goals. But it has
bloomed into a passion, underscored
by a simple philosophy rooted in
music: “Anyone can learn, anyone
can play an instrument,” he says,
“and anyone can know music.”
Now 30, Morris is taking his
musical career in a new direction
with an opportunity to build on the
music offerings at the College of
Arts and Sciences.
At SU, Morris will
wear multiple hats: in
addition to directing chamber
and instrumental
music, he is in charge of
putting together different
musical ensembles, will
teach core classes in
music, and develop opportunities
for private music lessons and more
live performances by students and
touring ensembles. Down the road
he would like to create a degree
program in jazz voice or instrumental
music.
“Seattle University is a very unique
and distinguished university and
with that, I feel we should have a
8 | Campus Observer