{"id":1110,"date":"2013-12-05T08:00:52","date_gmt":"2013-12-05T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/?page_id=1110"},"modified":"2013-12-06T07:10:47","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T11:10:47","slug":"student-leader-follows-his-life-passions-into-career-path-in-um-music-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/profiles\/student-leader-follows-his-life-passions-into-career-path-in-um-music-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Student leader follows his life passions into career path in UM music school"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted December 5, 2013<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By MARISSA YOUNG<\/i><\/p>\n

Ben Morris\u2019 leadership positions reflect his passions: music and nature.<\/p>\n

Morris, who is from Chatham, N.J., is a junior in the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.\u00a0 He is a music composition\/history double major.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/a>

Ben Morris<\/p><\/div>\n

He is the secretary of the UM Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI), a student group that organizes composers on campus.<\/p>\n

Through SCI, Morris can share the music that he creates; as the student activities coordinator of the UM Honors Students\u2019 Association (HSA), he can organize \u201coutdoorsy\u201d trips.<\/p>\n

Morris has always loved music, but he did not always know he wanted it to be his career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really know I wanted to be a composer until the middle of high school,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n

Even then, he was not sure what type of composition he wanted to do.\u00a0 He originally applied to the Frost School of Music as a media writing and production major.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, I only wanted to do film scoring, but then I discovered other types of music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked his favorite type of music, Morris hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a tough one,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI guess classical, because that\u2019s what I compose the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, he composes jazz, pop music, film scores and rock. \u00a0He plays mostly piano, but also plays the drums.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a composer, Ben has a very original and mature sound to his music,\u201d said UM music student Spencer Robelen, president of SCI.\u00a0 \u201cHe uses a\u00a0pleasant blend of jazz and classical techniques that gives his music a very colorful texture.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is difficult to keep up when Morris lists his favorite bands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of bands,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s always so hard to pin it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples of his wide range of musical tastes include classic rock artists, like the Beatles and Yes; jazz artists, like Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis and Lyle Mays; classical composers, like Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland; and film composers, like John Williams and Howard Shore.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment I met [Morris], I could tell that music was his life,\u201d said Jen Ferrante, a member of HSA.\u00a0 \u201cThe way he talks about it, he can get other people excited to expand the genres they listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris\u2019 hobbies are by no means limited to listening to and composing music.\u00a0 He also enjoys viewing visual arts, writing film screenplays, writing philosophical stories and opinion essays, swimming, kayaking, and conversing with people.<\/p>\n

Still, he devotes a great deal of his time to music.<\/p>\n

To enrich his musical experience at UM, Morris joined SCI, which arranges for performers to play members\u2019 pieces and organizes several concerts.<\/p>\n

One of Morris\u2019 favorite events is Scares and Scores, a collaboration between composers and UFilm Studios, UM\u2019s film making organization.\u00a0 \u00a0Filmmakers make horror films that are often comedic and send them to the composers.\u00a0 The composers have about a week to create a film score and then play it live.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like talking about ideas with people and planning creative things,\u201d Morris said about collaborating with other artists.<\/p>\n

As secretary, Morris takes notes at each meeting and sends recap e-mails to all SCI members, which is especially useful to those who could not attend. \u00a0He also works closely with Robelen to plan events.<\/p>\n

\u201cBen Morris is a great, easygoing guy, dependable and trustworthy,\u201d Robelen said. \u00a0\u201cAs the SCI secretary, Ben has been extremely helpful in making SCI a better, more efficient\u00a0club by keeping everyone informed\u00a0about events and deadlines. \u00a0He has improved SCI’s way of communicating immensely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris devotes his additional time to HSA, a club open to all Honors students at UM.\u00a0 It provides members with both on-campus and off-campus activities and events to enrich Honors students\u2019 social and academic experiences.<\/p>\n

Morris got involved with HSA as a freshman, when he got an e-mail about the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would be a good opportunity to meet other honors students.\u201d<\/p>\n

He got his position as student activities coordinator at last year\u2019s HSA end-of-the-year banquet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really planning on applying for any position, but there was an open ballot and my friend put my name in for me.\u00a0 I gave a little speech, people voted for me, and the rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris has never traveled beyond the East Coast of the United States.\u00a0 He came to UM to push himself to go somewhere new.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiami is such a different culture,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s inspired me to travel abroad \u2026 hopefully over the summer or when I get out of college and have time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until then, he can plan adventures to take with the club.<\/p>\n

Sunday was the first official HSA event that Morris planned.<\/p>\n

He organized a bus trip to the John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo, got box lunches for everybody, planned a glass-bottom boat tour at the park and sent out information to HSA members.<\/p>\n

Morris almost had to cancel the trip because of windy weather conditions, but the wind was not as bad as it was supposed to be, so the trip went on as scheduled.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, though, only 12 out of 35 people who signed up attended.\u00a0 Morris did not let that phase him.<\/p>\n

“The people there really enjoyed it and we made the most of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Morris is lucky enough to have a lot of funding for his trips, as HSA has 500 to 600 members, each of whom has paid $50 dues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of trips in the works,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n

He is planning theater-related trips to places like the Arsht Center, where HSA members might see a musical, a ballet, or an opera.<\/p>\n

Some outdoor events he is working on are an Everglades trip, a beach trip, and midnight kayaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of things we can do.\u00a0 It\u2019s South Florida.\u00a0 We have the beach and warm weather year-round.\u00a0 We can do [outdoor] things even in the winter, to the jealousy of the northern schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

The activities that Morris arranges are not limited to trips.<\/p>\n

In addition, \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get more speakers involved to keep the academic part in [the club], as well.\u00a0 And we\u2019re always open to suggestions from general members.\u201d<\/p>\n

HSA officers all help each other with running the club and planning events.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like each person has a single role,\u201d Morris said.\u00a0 \u201cWe do things as an e-board [executive board], rather than as individual people.\u00a0 It\u2019s like a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBen is a great guy,\u201d said Gabi Wagener, HSA\u2019s historian. \u00a0\u201cHe’s always willing to help and always has a smile on his face. \u00a0He’s a great HSA officer and has had a positive influence on\u2026 the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris is always busy planning, not just for his clubs, but also for his life after college.<\/p>\n

He was born in New York City, grew up nearby, and intends to return to attend graduate school. \u00a0He is considering Columbia, NYU, or a State University of New York (SUNY) school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to get a masters and Ph.D. in music composition,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cAt the same time, I would also like to do film scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris has two careers in mind.\u00a0 The first is teaching music at the university level.\u00a0 The second is a bit harder to attain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to work with professional filmmakers,\u201d Morris explained.\u00a0 \u201cI would like to compose [music] for films, video games, or TV shows, but it\u2019s really competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, Morris is focusing on balancing his studies with his leadership positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a music student is hard enough as it is.\u00a0 You can only do so much.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted December 5, 2013 By MARISSA YOUNG Ben Morris\u2019 leadership positions reflect his passions: music and nature. Morris, who is from Chatham, N.J., is a junior in the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.\u00a0 He is a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1089,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1110","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1159,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1110\/revisions\/1159"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}