Geoffrey MORRIS
guitar

Geoffrey Morris has created a unique path as a classical guitarist in Australia primarily through his work in contemporary music. To date he has played in over one hundred and thirty premiere performances of works for solo guitar, chamber works and works employing electronics.

His interpretations are often based upon direct contact with composers. He has worked with Elena KATS-CHERNIN (Aust), Brian FERNEYHOUGH (UK), Jason ECKARDT (USA), Michael FINNISSY (UK), Horatiu RADULESCU (Romania), Aldo CLEMENTI (Italy) and many others.

He has introduced new music to Australian audiences by John CAGE (USA), Luca FRANCESCONI (Italy), James DILLON (UK) and Toshio HOSOKAWA (Japan). Since 1993 he has been a member of the internationally acclaimed ELISION Ensemble with whom he has premiered new chamber works by Franco DONATONI (Italy), Helen GIFFORD (Aust.), Chaya CZERNOWIN (Israel), Maurizio PISATI (Italy) and Gerard BROPHY (Aust.). With ELISION he recently premiered and recorded two new works by Ferneyhough, Les Froissements des Ailes de Gabriel and No Time (at all).

With Libra Ensemble he has performed many of the most important works in the twentieth-century repertoire including those by Gerhard, Boulez, Stravinsky, Webern and Crumb. Geoffrey has accompanied some of Australia's finest singers including Jane EDWARDS, Tyrone LANDAU and Deborah KAYSER.

In recent years Geoffrey has also embraced the performance of the nineteenth-century solo and lieder repertoire performing this work on period instruments and copies. He has performed with many leading Australian and international ensembles and individuals including the Gavin Bryars Ensemble, the Song Company, guitarist Norio SATO (Melbourne Festival), Ensemble Modern (Adelaide Festival), Ensemble 21 (New York City), Paul GRABOWSKY and Aphids Trio.

Geoffrey has given performances in Italy, Germany, Denmark, England, Ireland, U.S.A, Norway, Japan and Holland as well as throughout Australia. His awards include a Queens Trust Achievers Award, Best Solo Performance at the Sydney Spring festival (2000), Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship and most recently the 2004 Music Council of Australia/Freedman Fellowship for Classical Music.

Geoffrey is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, gained a Masters Degree from the University of Melbourne and is currently a Ph.D candidate at the University of Newcastle studying with the support of an Australian Postgraduate Award.

In 2001 Geoffrey?s debut solo CD In Flagranti was released on ABC Classics (ABC 465 701-2) to widespread critical acclaim. He has previously recorded on the ETCETERA (Holland) and Vox Australis, Move and Mode (USA) labels. He has had his work broadcast on ABC FM, ABC Television, BBC Radio 3, Danish Radio 2, WNYC (New York), Radio Bremen, and the Deutschlandfunk, (Cologne). Geoffrey is currently recording a CD of works by the Italian composer Aldo CLEMENTI for the American label Mode, and in 2003 curated the Sunset Chamber Music Series for the Melbourne Festival.

June 2005

Geoffrey can be contacted at geoffreymmorris@optusnet.com.au.

Press Comment

" . . . brilliantly played by Geoffrey Morris"
--Paul GRIFFITHS The New York Times (USA)

"absolutely brilliant"
--Dino VILLATICO La Republica (Rome)

" . . . Geoffrey Morris clearly demonstrated why he is one of Australia's leading exponents of the instrument, particularly in new music."
--Joel CROTTY The Age (Melbourne)

" . . . fluid and expressive performance, rich in unusual timbral combinations . . . magisterially conducted by Geoffrey Morris: the Australian guitarist manages to sum up the musical sense of the figures, retaining a notable clarity of execution even in the most arduous difficulties, always united to a discursive sense of the events. Sincere compliments for the interpretation and recording of such an important and so difficult a work.  . . . conducted yet again with clarity and agility by Geoffrey Morris"
--Elena CASOLI Il Fronimo (Italian Guitar Journal, Milano)

"a virtuosic and concentrated performance"
--Peter McCallum Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney)

"the execution is of the highest standard and an assertive, intense, highly coloured and above all powerful reading is the result."
--M. Mortimer AVANT (UK)

"again the performances are of a very high standard . . . the guitar's crystalline qualities are more audibly detailed than on  . . .  recent reading."
--F.F. Gramophone (UK)

"deftly and elegantly interpreted . . . all the shading and nuances of expression that this virtuoso piece demands"
--Stephen INGHAM The Age (Melbourne)

"a rewarding exploration led by a dedicated and sensitive musician . . . "
--Peter McCallum Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney)

"An itinerary for `extreme guitar´ but without provocations. All stuff of today but all good music, pleasing and splendidly played" ***** "ottimo"
--Angelo FOLETTO Suonare News (Italy)

"the most significant contemporary guitar compilation of recent years . . . played with a flair and musical intelligence which confirm Geoffrey Morris not only as one of Australia's leading guitar exponents but as a musician who is genuinely engaged with the music of our time"
--Gareth KOCH Libretto

"Geoffrey Morris is clearly a fearless virtuoso of the guitar . . . this is a brilliant album, stunningly well played. If you're an adventurous listener, you should consider acquiring a copy. If you're a guitarist, you should buy it without hesitation; otherwise you might as well go back to picking your way through the introduction to Stairway to Heaven".
--Andrew FORD 24 Hours

Photograph by Gil MEYDAN