Morgan Kelly Moss (MA UCLA in-progress, BM Magna Cum Laude Temple University) is a composer, teacher, and pianist from Philadelphia, PA, currently based in Los Angeles. Morgan’s music has a sound world that is described as neo-American with inspiration from nature, and always spirited with a twinge of optimism. Morgan’s works have been presented by performers such as Hilá Plitmann, Suuvi (fka Sophia Bacelar), Lisa Pegher, and Phyllis Pan, and additionally has worked with ensembles across the country such as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Brass Alliance, Los Angeles Chamber Music Company, the Bach Society of Dayton Ohio, the Argus Quartet, the Chester County Band, and the Temple University concert choir, concert band, and composers’ orchestra. She currently studies composition with GRAMMY Award-winning composer Richard Danielpour, and also studied piano with world-renowned pianist Sara Davis Buechner for many years.
Recently, Morgan has been selected to participate in the Chigiana composition program in Siena, Italy, and will have her orchestral work La Vita Nuova premiered in June, 2024. Additionally, her “Dreams of Holy Places” was selected by pianist and maestro Jeffery Jacobs to be recorded on an internationally distributed album of new works. Her work for solo trumpet and piano, “To the Ones who Know my Heart,” was also selected for performance from 90 international submissions by the International Trumpet Guild, and she has been accorded “Emerging Composer” by Tribeca New Music Competition.
Moss is also very active in scoring music for film; she currently works in Los Angeles at Bear McCreary’s composing studio, Sparks and Shadows. She has also scored over 30 short films to date, and in 2022 composed her first feature film score which was released in local theaters in July, 2022. She is very proud to be the founder of Everywhere Music Company, a TA at UCLA for musicianship and music theory, as well as a teacher of piano, composition, theory, and voice at the music studio of Patricia Keith.
Morgan plans to continue onto her PhD at UCLA in 2024, and continue to grow her career as a composer and teacher.
Storks
Composed Fall 2021 – Violin, Cello, Piano
From the composer: “Storks Piano Trio is a nostalgic work based on a series of paintings by my grandmother (affectionately known as “Mimi”). I have always enjoyed combining different types of art to create an overarching experience for the listener. Storks was created in reaction to her paintings (in score), and both the auditory and visual art can be presented together to create a new listening experience.
I am presenting this work specifically because it provides an opportunity for intersectionality between different kinds of art, which is something I am personally very passionate about. I am also presenting this work because it’s life as a piece of music was significantly stunted due to Covid-19 aftermath, and I want to give it the life it deserves!“