Andrew Morris (born 18 December 1948) is a British conductor, organist, adjudicator and teacher based in Cambridge.
Biography
Andrew Morris was brought up on the Isle of Wight. He was a boy chorister of Westminster Abbey under Sir William McKie and then gained a music scholarship to Bembridge School before entering the Royal Academy of Music in 1967, where he studied organ, piano and conducting. He then read for the MA and BMus degrees at the University of London before taking the MEd degree by research at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, where he was also Schoolmaster Fellow Commoner. He is a Fellow of Trinity College London, was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music by the Governing Body of the Royal Academy of Music in 1988 and given the honorary award of ARSCM by the Royal School of Church Music in 2019 for his work in church music, choral music and music education.
Career
In 1971 Andrew Morris succeeded Brian Brockless as Organist and Director of Music at the Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield, in the City of London. During his 8-year tenure at the Church he developed both the music within the liturgy and the concert programmes. The choir, under his direction, focused on the performance of sixteenth, early seventeenth and twentieth century music, making records with Abbey Records and broadcasting on BBC Radio 3 and ITV. He also directed the music for the annual Dedication Service of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor which took place at St Bartholomew-the-Great where the Knights Bachelor Chapel was then situated. While at St Bartholomew's he re-founded the New English Singers in 1974 and he conducted concerts with the group in and around London with various instrumental groups including the English Consort of Viols. His work with adult chamber choirs continued and, in 1985, he founded the New Bedford Singers which he conducted for 10 years in concerts in the home counties. At St Bartholomew-the-Great he directed several festivals, all of which were widely acclaimed in the national press both for the quality of the performances and the originality of the programmes. The Festival to celebrate the 850th Anniversary of the founding of St Bartholomew's Priory and Hospital in 1973 included performances by the London Bach Society under Paul Steinitz, the Schutz Choir of London under Roger Norrington, The Aeolian String Quartet and The King's Singers. The Festival to celebrate The Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, sponsored by The Stock Exchange, featured concerts by the New English Singers under Andrew Morris and the London Schubert Orchestra under Brian Brockless performing mostly twentieth century works.
The two International Festivals of Twentieth Century Music in 1978 and 1979 which Morris directed in collaboration with the composer Paul Patterson contained performances by some of the UK's leading contemporary music ensembles and a concert of works by Krzysztof Penderecki conducted by the composer. There were 11 world premieres, 10 British premieres and 8 London premieres performed in the 1978 festival. In the 1979 festival, all the (then) Sequenzas of Luciano Berio were performed and, in addition, there were 8 world premieres, 10 British premieres and 4 London premieres. Andrew Morris conducted the London premieres of Judica Me, Opus 96 (Lennox Berkeley), The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo (Elizabeth Maconchy) and Canticle of the Mother of God (John Tavener). In his festival organ recital, Andrew Morris gave the British premieres of Jubilate (Augustine Bloch), Hvar Litany (Miroslav Miletic) and Triphtogus I (Pal Karolyi) and the London premiere of Games (Paul Patterson), which had been commissioned by the 1977 St Albans International Organ Festival.
As an organ recitalist, Andrew Morris gave regular recitals at St Bartholomew-the-Great during his time there and, at various times, he has appeared as organist at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, St Paul's Cathedral, King's College, Cambridge, Hexham Abbey, Bedford School Chapel and most of the churches of the City of London.
In 1972 Andrew Morris was appointed Professor of Harmony and Piano at the London College of Music, where he remained until 1976, and he was also appointed Director of Music at Christ's College, Finchley, where he taught until 1979.