Oberlin Conservatory Black Musicians’ Guild To Hold Forum With Conductor Michael Morgan ’79 By David Daniels '84
			The Oberlin Conservatory Black Musicians’ Guild features its first guest lecturer, conductor and Oberlin alumnus Michael Morgan ’79, this Wednesday, November 14, at 4:30 P.M., in Bibbins, Room 224. The Conservatory’s Black Musician’s Guild is a student-based organization that was founded recently for the purpose of bringing in more African American musicians to lecture, hold master classes and perform within the Conservatory. Consistent with this goal, the Guild has chosen Michael Morgan, currently in his twelfth year as Music director of Oakland East Bay Symphony, to be its first speaker. Morgan was born in Washington, DC, where he attended public schools and began conducting at the age of 12. While a student at the Oberlin Conservatory, he spent a summer at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, working with such conducting greats as Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein. In 1980, he won first prize in the Hans Swarovsky International Conductors Competition in Vienna, Austria and became Assistant Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, under Leonard Slatkin. His operatic debut was in 1982 at the Vienna State Opera in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. In 1986, Sir George Solti chose Morgan to become the Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for seven years. His highly praised debut conducting a regular subscription concert of the Chicago Symphony came in 1987, when he stepped in, without any rehearsal, to replace the ailing Maestro Solti. During his tenure in Chicago, he was also conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (a training orchestra for the Chicago Symphony) and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 1986, he was also invited by Leonard Bernstein to make his first appearance with the New York Philharmonic; he has returned to conduct that orchestra several times since. In addition to his duties with Oakland East Bay Symphony, Maestro Morgan serves as Artistic Director of the Oakland Youth Orchestra, Music Director of the Sacramento Philharmonic, and Music Director of Festival Opera in Walnut Creek. He makes frequent appearances as guest conductor with orchestras throughout the United States, and has conducted the San Francisco Symphony on many occasions, most recently during the 2000-20001 season. He was honored as one of the ten most influential African Americans in the Bay Area in 2000 at CityFlight Newsmagazine’s second annual Awards Gala. Morgan recently served as guest conductor of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra for its debut concert at Lincoln Center in New York City, with Wynton Marsalis appearing as guest artist. During the summer of 2002, he will teach conducting at Tanglewood. He makes over 100 appearances in the nation’s schools, particularly in the East Bay, and is widely regarded as an expert on the importance of arts education and minority access to the arts. Maestro Morgan’s forum at Oberlin will focus on the opportunities and challenges in the music business. All are welcome.
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