Zeke Morgan is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work explores the contrast between sounds and the resultant tension between stylistic genres. He is passionate about challenging the illusion of stability.

Currently a master’s student at the Manhattan School of Music studying with Ashkan Behzadi, Morgan holds degrees from Bard College and Conservatory of Music in composition and the written arts. Through his studies in poetry, he has developed a special interest in the voice and musical narrative.

Highlights of the past year include the December 2023 premiere of a staged version of Morgan’s first opera, Vivisection, with libretto by Lucy Berger; the opera “Requiem”, with music and libretto by Morgan, premiered as a concert performance April 2024; and PAX, a piece for solo voice and orchestra, premiered in May 2024 by Garrick Neuner and The Orchestra Now conducted by Leon Botstein.

Morgan’s music has been performed by a variety of artists including the Da Capo Chamber Players, members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, and Bard Conservatory musicians.

Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Morgan’s roots are in old time and folk music, but his interests include jazz, bluegrass, free improvisation, electronica, and contemporary classical music. He draws heavy influence from folklore and myth, religion, philosophy, and the state of the perceivable reality around him. He has performed and composed in a wide variety of musical settings — from orchestras to rock bands.

While still an undergraduate at Bard, Morgan ran the Sinfonietta Project, a student-led new music initiative designed to provide opportunities for living composers and performers to engage in music-making together. He organized multiple student composition concerts, including one where performance and composition students wrote music for one another. He has organized and produced numerous concert-length evenings of his music, and has premiered multiple pieces by his colleagues. Notable teachers and mentors include Joan Tower, Missy Mazzoli, George Tsontakis, and Jorge Variego.