Studio Classes – Quinton Morris, violin
Dr. Quinton Morris is a concert violinist, educator, entrepreneur, radio host and filmmaker. A Renton native, he founded Key to Change to provide South King County’s underserved youth and students of color with opportunities to study violin and viola.
As the Professor of Violin at Seattle University, Dr. Morris has been teaching violin since 2007, becoming not only the university’s first tenured music professor in over 40 years but also the second living Black violinist in the United States ever to receive university tenure. As Artist-Scholar in Residence at Classical King FM 98.1, he hosts Unmute The Voices, a radio and video show that celebrates classical music composed and performed by artists of color.
Over the course of his 25-year career, Dr. Morris has performed and presented masterclasses, lectures and films at some of the world’s most respected venues, including the Seattle Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Carnegie Hall (New York), TEDxSeattle, Seattle Art Museum, Roberts Project Art Museum (Los Angeles), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Louvre Museum (Paris), National Normal Taiwan University (Taiwan), Dong-eui University (Korea), the American String Teachers Association National Conference, the University of Paris, Monash University (Australia) and Tumaini University (Tanzania), among many others.
For his work, he has received numerous artistic and community service awards, such as the Outstanding Collegiate Studio Teaching Award from the Washington Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, the Pathfinder Award from the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa, a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the Ibla International Competition’s Distinguished and Audience Favorite Awards, the Washington State Governor’s Arts Award, the Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award and a Hall of Fame Alumni Award from Renton High School. As a filmmaker, he received the top prize at the European Independent Film Awards in Paris as well as the Bronze Award at the Global Music Awards in Los Angeles and high honors at the New York Film Awards.
With a distinguished teaching track record, Dr. Morris’ students have received scholarships to attend the Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Cleveland Institute of Music, the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Washington. Additionally, his students have performed with the Tacoma, Virginia, and Yakima Symphonies.
Dr. Morris graduated from Renton High School in 1996. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts; a Master of Music degree from the Boston Conservatory; a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin; and a Graduate Diploma in Business Management from the Harvard Extension School. In his spare time, he enjoys watching football, spending time with his family, traveling, wine tasting and collecting red toy cars.
