Justin Morgan is the Dean of Gifted Music School—a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution in Salt Lake City, committed to nurturing artistry, character, and skills vital to a healthy community through exceptional comprehensive music education. Inspired by his own experience as a student in the full-scholarship Conservatory at Gifted Music School, Dean Morgan is passionate about making the highest possible quality educational and artistic experiences accessible to students of all backgrounds.

Prior to his appointment as Dean, Morgan was a Double Bass Fellow at The Orchestra Now (TŌN), Bard College’s visionary training orchestra and graduate program in upstate New York. As a member of TŌN, Morgan performed regular subscription series at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and more, in addition to his near-weekly performances at the Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center at Bard College.

A Utah native, Morgan’s earliest teachers included Laurie Stout-Letz and Nicole McDermott of the Salt Lake Symphony, and Jamie Allyn of the Utah Symphony. In 2018, Morgan earned a Bachelor of Music at the University of Utah under the tutelage of Utah Symphony Principal Bassist, David Yavornitzky. He then moved to New York where he received an Advanced Performance Studies Certificate from the Bard Conservatory of Music under the Metropolitan Opera’s Associate Principal Bassist, Leigh Mesh.​

Morgan has participated in numerous orchestra tours throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In December 2019, he went on tour with Grammy, Academy, and Grawemeyer award-winning composer and conductor, Tan Dun, to perform his Buddha Passion in China with the Bard Philharmonic and China National Symphony Chorus. Morgan has been involved in several music videos and recording projects and his orchestral and chamber performances have been broadcast on radio stations throughout Utah, Philadelphia, and New York. In the summer of 2019, Morgan attended the Académie Orford Musique in Québec where he studied with Donald Palma, Ali Yazdanfar, Petru Iuga, and Joel Quarrington. Other masterclass and summer festival teachers have included Harold Robinson, Peter Lloyd, DaXun Zhang, Todd Seeber, Nate West, Heather Miller Larden, and Erik Harris.​