Morris Palter

University of Arizona

Born in Canada, Morris Palter’s diverse musical interests have found him performing throughout North America, Asia, and Europe at some of the most prominent festivals and venues including Carnegie Hall, the Royal College of Music (London, UK), the Quincena Festival (Spain), Disney Hall (Los Angeles) and IRCAM (Paris). Morris has commissioned and/or premiered hundreds of new compositions, working with both notable composers and new compositional voices. As a novelty ragtime xylophone specialist, he has performed globally at festivals throughout North America, and Europe including the Breda Jazz Festival (The Netherlands) and the Bohèm Ragtime and Jazz Festival (Hungary).

In 2000, Morris co-founded NOISE (San Diego New Music), and was a member of the redfish bluefish percussion ensemble from 1999 to 2005. In 2010, Morris was host and director of the bluefish percussion ensemble from 1999 to 2005. In 2010, Morris was host and director of the Focus Day of Percussion at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. More recent engagements found him providing all the percussion music for the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles’s live theatre production of King Henry IV starring Tom Hanks, as well as residencies at the University of Southern California, and the University of North Texas. Morris is the founder and director of the Tocalo Tucson Summer Chamber Percussion Seminar and is currently endorsed by Malletech, Black Swamp Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, and REMO Drumheads. Morris was an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (2012-2017) and is currently an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arizona.