Richard Morris

James Richard Morris was born in Atlanta, the son of Benjamin Franklin Morris and Jessie Clyde Forehand Morris. His remarkable musical talents quickly emerged. His concert career began at age 12 as piano soloist with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, performing the Grieg Piano Concerto at the Fox Theatre before an audience of 5,000 people. At age 13, he was head post organist and choir master at the Fort McPherson Army Base in East Point, Georgia, until he graduated high school. He was twice soloist in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Concerts during his high school years. He received his bachelor’s degree in piano at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, as a pupil of Thomas Brockman; he also studied the organ with Catherine Crozier. Grants from the French government enabled him to study in France with the legendary pedagogue, Nadia Boulanger, as well as distinguished pianists Robert Casadesus and his son, Jean. He then became a Fulbright Scholar at the Academy of Music in Vienna as a pupil of Richard Hauser. Upon his return to the United States in 1965, he earned the degree of Master of Divinity from Nashotah House Seminary in Wisconsin and spent several years in the parish ministry. He later became a Catholic, and was awaiting ordination in 1972 when Emilie Spivey, herself an organist and the founder of Spivey Hall in Morrow, Georgia, heard him perform. She encouraged him to work with the iconic American organist, Virgil Fox, thereby launching his extraordinary career as a concert organist. Richard Morris is one of a very small number of organists to have appeared as soloist in Carnegie Hall. Other prestigious New York concert halls that have hosted his performances include Town Hall and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. He also appeared three times on NBC’s Today show, and performed on four occasions at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., including the special concert series celebrating the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter. For 25 years, Richard performed an average of 50 to 60 concerts a season for Columbia Artists and the Community Concert Associations of the United States and Canada, both as soloist and with his very popular organ-and-trumpet program, Toccatas and Flourishes. He was an acclaimed soloist in performances for national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and with orchestras throughout the country. In 2005, Richard was master of ceremonies and a featured soloist of the Virgil Fox Legacy 25th Memorial Concert at New York City’s Church of St. Paul the Apostle. Throughout his career, he made a series of critically acclaimed recordings. At Mrs. Spivey’s invitation, Richard served as consultant on the tonal design of Spivey Hall’s Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ, built by Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy, and dedicated in 1992. He was named Spivey Hall Organist-in-Residence in 1994, serving also as head of Clayton State’s Organ Department, giving annual recitals, and taking part in numerous special events, including two live broadcasts of National Public Radio’s program, Performance Today. In addition to his duties at Spivey Hall, Richard Morris served as Organist/Choirmaster at St. Peter and St. Paul Episcopal Church in Marietta, Georgia, and, since 1994, as Church Organist and Georgian Chant/Polyphonic Director at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Mableton, Georgia. In Rome, he sang in Gregorian Pontifical Institute choir workshops, including a performance for the Holy Father Blessed John Paul II, with whom he had an audience. He attended Catholic music conferences at Ft. Royal, Virginia, and his perspectives on music in the Catholic Church were published in an extended interview with Latin Mass Magazine. His survivors include his business and touring manager, Robert J. Serredell, Jr., and brother and sister-in-law, B. Ronald and Cynthia Morris. A Rosary Service will be held 7:30 p.m. Friday at Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home and Crematory in Marietta. A Funeral Mass will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Mableton. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in loving memory of Richard to St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 587 Landers Dr. SW, Mableton, Ga 30126. www.mayeswarddobbins.com

Richard Morris

May 30, 1942 - September 12, 2013