Michael Morrison

Michael Morrison was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Levelland, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music/Performance degree, both with an emphasis in Jazz Studies from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has performed in the UT Arlington Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Bill Snodgrass and Timothy Ishii, and has been a student of Mr. Timothy Ishii for many years. Also, he has performed in the UT Arlington Wind Ensemble as principle alto saxophone and as guest soloist with the UT Arlington Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Morrison has also served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Jazz Studies program at UT Arlington. His duties included teaching jazz combos, jazz history, and jazz theory. In addition, he presented lectures and performed for the Saxophone Master Class under the direction of Mr. Timothy Ishii. During his time at UT Arlington, Mr. Morrison has performed with many renowned artists; such as, Arturo Sandoval, Jon Faddis, Terell Stafford, Bob Mintzer, Dave Pietro, Linda Oh, Peter Erskine, Mike Williams, Denis DiBlasio, Roger Ingram, and Dave Hagedorn.

Michael Morrison is a Adjunct Instructor in Jazz Survey at the TCU in addition to maintaining an active performing schedule in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. He is a member of the American Jazz Composers Orchestra, Mesquite Repertory Jazz Ensemble, Rebel Alliance Jazz Ensemble, and the Curtis Bradshaw Octet. Also, he performs with his jazz trio—Michael Morrison Trio—which has been the house jazz trio at Newport’s Restaurant for three years. They have also been the featured jazz group at the Mesquite Arts Center Summer Jazz Breaks in 2011. In addition to performing, he is an in demand private lesson instructor throughout the area, teaching classical saxophone repertoire as well as jazz saxophone, improvisation, theory, and beginning flute and clarinet.