Featuring the unique music of Valarie Morris

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    • Home
    • Shop
    • Events
      • Jan 2025 Benefit Concert
      • Sept 2024 Performance
      • July 2024 Fundraiser
      • Nov 2023 Fundraiser
      • Public Performances
    • Catalog
      • Top Picks
      • Flute Music
      • Clarinet Music
      • Oboe Music
      • English Horn Music
      • Bassoon Music
      • Saxophone Music
      • Trumpet Music
      • Horn Music
      • Trombone Music
      • Euphonium and Tuba Music
      • Percussion Music
      • Vocal Music
      • Choral Music
      • Piano Music
      • Accordion Music
      • Guitar Music
      • Violin Music
      • Viola Music
      • Cello Music
      • Bass Music
    • About
    • Commissions
      • Composing
      • Commissioning
    • Blog
    • Contact
    • About
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Events
    • Jan 2025 Benefit Concert
    • Sept 2024 Performance
    • July 2024 Fundraiser
    • Nov 2023 Fundraiser
    • Public Performances
  • Catalog
    • Top Picks
    • Flute Music
    • Clarinet Music
    • Oboe Music
    • English Horn Music
    • Bassoon Music
    • Saxophone Music
    • Trumpet Music
    • Horn Music
    • Trombone Music
    • Euphonium and Tuba Music
    • Percussion Music
    • Vocal Music
    • Choral Music
    • Piano Music
    • Accordion Music
    • Guitar Music
    • Violin Music
    • Viola Music
    • Cello Music
    • Bass Music
  • About
  • Commissions
    • Composing
    • Commissioning
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About

Composing

About Our Music Compositions

Music compositions by Valarie Morris are multidimensional, evocative, playful, innovative, theatrical, and sometimes humorous! Her imagistic music delights and captivates audiences. See Settings, Environments, and Words of Select Compositions below.


"New Mexico is the perfect place for me to compose music. The ever-changing skyscapes with their amazing colors, the light on the mesas, and the shapes of the mountains. Everywhere I look gives me inspiration for my musical palette of sounds." Valarie Morris


Sometimes Valarie's works are purely instrumental, like The Key, her recent work for viola and percussion. Valarie Morris composes music for band, orchestra, smaller ensembles and solos. The Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra performed Symphony of Light and Shadows, selected earlier by the Marin Symphony for a reading session. 


Five-Winged Bird, the all-woman sax quintet Valarie played with in the Bay Area, performed Full Moon, Scrumptious, and her arrangement of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat at Yoshi's Jazz Club. When Valarie subbed with the Junius Courtney Big Band, she also arranged Charles Mingus's amazing Goodbye Pork Pie Hat for the band to perform.


Other times Valarie combines her music with words to create intriguing vocal compositions and instrumental/vocal works for dance, theatre, and other arts. She enjoys exploring music interactions with settings and context. The Minnesota Ballet selected tunes from her Animal Anthology series for some of their dance performances.



Photo by Clare Lighton

Settings, Environments, and Words of Select Compositions

Paris

The Azores

Amsterdam

Place Pigalle recounts the picturesque metro station and the street shops surrounding it. Words and music by Valarie Morris. 


Resistance takes a wild and horrendous WWII ride. Chorus of 20 and 12-piece orchestra. 

Words by M. Emily Einson and Valarie Morris. Music by Valarie Morris.

Amsterdam

The Azores

Amsterdam

The character in Bilderdijkstraat comes home late at night, stepping lightly, careful 

not to make a sound. 

"Amsterdam gently caresses my shoulders, Coyly kisses my neck, Whispers in my ear. Stairs creak and bones crack, 

As I try not to wake you."

Words and music by Valarie Morris.

The Azores

The Azores

As Almost Anyone

With choreographer Joan Amaral and actor Kiké Adediji, Valarie Morris developed the music titled Before the Storm,

set on a cold and windy day.

Part of Ms. Amaral's larger work, 

Amor Perfeito/When Joao Crossed Over, about family and the Azores.

Music by Valarie Morris.

As Almost Anyone

The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera

As Almost Anyone

Set at the seaside, As Almost Anyone welcomes the performer's imagination to create the environment. 

A tape of waves and seagulls accompanied early performances. The music parallels the poem's dramatic interludes and moods. 

Spoken words and music by Valarie Morris.

The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera

The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera

The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera

Riding the bus home from Los Alamos National Laboratory was the perfect place to write the libretto for The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera, the world's shortest opera. This tragic comedic story hinges on science fiction ... or perhaps not?

Libretto and music by Valarie Morris.

Easter Song

The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera

The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera

Mary Artemis Lathbury (1841-1913), poet laureate of Chautauqua, wrote the beautiful poem Easter Song. After much research, Valarie selected this poem to set to music for chorus and for string quartet. 

Music by Valarie Morris.

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