~ Composer, Arranger, Pianist, First Generation Musician ~

When I first started playing piano, I did not start with formal training.  In fact, it was completely coincidental that I discovered music.  My parents are not musicians and never intended to give me piano lessons.  When I was eight, I received a small toy keyboard for Christmas; a gift to have fun and play with.  I started teaching myself and learning the small jingles featured as demos on the keyboard.  I fell in love with music and begged my parents for lessons which finally happened a year later.  The fact that I didn’t start with lessons but teaching myself means that composition is engrained within me.  I started composing before playing piano and thus composing has always been natural for me as a musician.  I am now sixteen years old and have composed over 100 pieces with jazz and Latin jazz composition being my forte.

I “sort of” fell into jazz because of my love for improvisation.  When I was twelve I wrote a funk-jazz piece called Free Fall with a poly-melodic structure, inspired by Bach.  My teacher, Ken Ard, encouraged I submit it to a contest and I did.  It was my first piece ever submitted and it won an award – the 2007 national ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Young Jazz Composer Award.*  Since then, I am a two-time (+) recipient with the 2010 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award and the 2009 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer honorable mention.  Recently, I received two national 2010 DOWNBEAT music awards for my compositions; winning the extended composition category and outstanding performance for original song.  I also earned first place for the 2010 MTAC (Music Teachers' Association of California) Film Scoring Composers' Today and the 2007 and 2008 MTAC State Composers' Today Composition awards.  In 2009, I was accepted into their MTAC Young Composers Guild (YCG).  I compose and arrange for my very own trio, the Chase Morrin Trio and my very own Latin quintet and Latin Duo, Latin Connection.  I wrote the full musical score for a theatrical production, my freshman year, A Corpse Bride that was performed at my school in 2007.  This year I am composing a Finnish musical project for my school's dance and choir conservatories to be performed in May.  I just completed my fifth big-band jazz composition, Mumphis that was premiered on March 7, 2010 by the Palomar College Jazz Ensemble at the California Center of Performing Arts in Escondido and by the San Diego State Jazz Orchestra on April 26, 2010 at the Smith Recital Hall. SDSU did an amazing job! This year, "Mumphis" won the Reno Jazz Festival Big Band Composition competition.  I also won the Reno Jazz Festival Small Ensemble Composition competition.  My other big band charts and arrangements have been performed by Canyon Crest Academy High School, San Diego Youth Symphony Stage band, and Grossmont College Big Band. 

In addition to jazz composition, I perform all over.  I just won the 2010 Los Angeles Music Center SPOTLIGHT Awards in the jazz instrumentalist category.  I played one of my newest compositions full of Indian and world music influences, Angular Raga at the Ahmanson Theater on April 24, 2010.  On the same night, I was awarded the overall "Outstanding Musician" Award for the 2010 Reno Jazz Festival and my duo combo (Latin Connection duo with Daniel Feldman on percussion) earned 2nd place in the high school combo category.  My Latin Duo also won the 2010 DOWNBEAT Student Music Award for best Latin Group (Latin Connection Duo).  In 2009, I was the Reno Jazz Festival “All Star” Pianist.  Also, in 2009, my Latin quintet, Latin Connection, was invited as special guests to perform at the Next Generation Monterey Jazz Festival.  Under my direction, my Latin Connection quartet earned the 2009 DOWNBEAT Student Music Award for Outstanding High School Performance in the Latin group category with three of my original arrangements and compositions.  This year, my trio was selected as one of six finalists nationwide and we competed at the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival in the new “open combo" division on April 10, 2010.  We took 2nd place amongst all university bands and I also won an "Outstanding Soloist" award.  We had a blast and are very excited.  We are very thankful to Dr. Rob Kleven and Monterey for opening the new "Open Combo" category for bands like us who are students from various schools and colleges.  We hope to return next year as it is one of our favorite gigs!

My education includes two scholarships to the 2008 and 2009 UCSD Jazz camps where I met three of my current local mentors; Rick Helzer, Anthony Davis, and Geoffrey Keezer.  In 2008 I attended the month long residential program, California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) - InnerSpark at CalArts and awarded the prestigious Herb Alpert Scholarship for Emerging Young Artist by the CSSSA faculty.**  I studied electronic music composition for the first time with Rychard Cooper and had my first experiences with world music including African drumming and Gamelan.  In 2009, I attended the Berklee College of Music’s five week summer program on full scholarship.  I studied with Douglass Johnson, Wayne Naus, and Dave Leema.  I have been offered a full scholarship to return to their Summer Jazz Workshop summer, 2010.  Currently, I am a member of the 7 O'Clock Palomar College Jazz Ensemble directed by Stephen Steinberg and the Ira Liss Big Band Machine directed by Ira Liss (adult professional band).  I also play with the MiraCosta College's Latin Jazz Orchestra, directed by Mario Gonzales.  In addition, I direct a my own bands including the Chase Morrin Trio, Latin Connection Jazz Quintet and Latin Connection Duo.  I often invite special guests to play with us as we gig all over San Diego, performing up to four times a week at jazz clubs, local restaurants, hotels, festivals, colleges, and private events.  My groups have been featured at the Catalina Jazz Club Young Artist series and at Vitello’s Jazz Club with the California Jazz Foundation.

I love all music, especially world and classical music.  I am a member of a Javanese Gamelan Orchestra with the Center of World Music in San Diego.  Pak Djoko comes to my school to teach a class every Friday.  I plan to travel to Indonesia and Bali with the center, summer 2010. I also accompany, conduct and direct local theater and opera groups.  For example, I just played piano with a special orchestra in which we premiered Anthony Davis' opera, Lilith, at UCSD (University California, San Diego), December, 2009.  I played with Dafnis Prieto and Mark Dresser in the rhythm section of the orchestra.  I have been the musical director, conductor and lead actor (Shroeder) for the youth production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown with Actors' Conservatory Theater.  I also conducted and played piano for Grease, Cats, South Pacific, and A High School Musical for San Diego Junior Theater, Actors' Conservatory Theater, and Canyon Crest Academy High School.

I have shared the stage with amazing professional musicians including Dafnis Prieto, Mark Dresser, Gilbert Castellanos, Bob Sheppard, Bob Mintzer, Dean Brown, Bill Watrous, Mike Bogart, Duncan Moore, and Rob Thorsen. 

I am a junior at Canyon Crest Academy High School in all Advanced Placement (AP) classes. This May I am taking six exams. I am on my school’s Academic Team and Math Team and I have started a Rubik’s Cube Club.  I also tutor math one day a week.  In addition to my musical accomplishments, I have earned awards in science and math competitions as well.  My school's Cube Club Team just earned first place in the San Diego County Rubik's Cube Competition on March 25, 2010.

I teach piano and percussion students privately outside of school.  I also host the “Young Lions Jazz Jam” to encourage live jazz music for youth. I am a member of ASCAP, the San Diego Jazz Musician’s Guild, the MTAC Young Composer’s Guild, and the California Jazz Foundation.  Many of my original works are on my websites at www.chasemorrin.com, www.myspace.com/chasemorrin, www.myspace.com/sdlatinconnection, and www.youtube.com/chasemorrin.

     Cube Club at CCA, Thursdays at lunch!  Learn how to solve the cube and compete!

*Youngest ever to receive the national ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award.

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