Principal Instructors: Leigh Mesh, David Yavornitzky, James Allyn
Masterclasses: Harold Robinson, Peter Lloyd, DaXun Zhang, Todd Seeber, Nate West, Heather Miller Larden, and Erik Harris
Bozeman Symphony, Principal Bass
Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, Substitute Bass
Ballet West Orchestra, Substitute Bass
The Orchestra Now (TŌN), Double Bass Fellow
Académie Orford Musique, 2019
Justin Morgan is the Principal Bassist for the Bozeman Symphony. In addition to his faculty position, Morgan has held multiple leadership roles at Gifted Music School, including serving as Dean and Interim Executive Director. Driven by a desire to pay forward the gifts he received as an alumnus of the school, Morgan is passionate about making the highest possible quality educational and artistic experiences accessible to students of all backgrounds.
A true artist-administrator, Morgan is an active performing musician in addition to his work in nonprofit leadership. In June 2023, he won the Principal Bass audition with the Bozeman Symphony. As a freelance musician in Salt Lake City, he has performed with some of the area's premier groups, including Ballet West, Utah Chamber Artists, and Utah Symphony. Morgan has collaborated with a diverse array of acclaimed artists, composers, and conductors like Joan Tower, Tan Dun, Valery Gergiev, Hans Graf, Xian Zhang, Lera Auerbach, Vadim Repin, and many more.
As a Double Bass Fellow at The Orchestra Now (TŌN) – Bard College’s visionary training orchestra and graduate program in upstate New York – Morgan performed regular subscription series at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and more, in addition to 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.
Every Child Can!
Bass Unit 1