Classical Musicians of African Descent

WXXI Classical 91.5 is in the process of building a resource of photos and brief biographical information about musicians of African descent. This resource is by no means complete, and we rely on you to help us build the site by sharing your information. Please click on the alphabetical groupings below to begin your discovery.

Michael Morgan, Music Director & Conductor

Classical 91.5 WXXO-FM | By classical intern

Published August 17, 2017 at 11:09 AM EDT

Conductor Michael Morgan is the music director of the Oakland Symphony in California. While a student at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he spent a summer at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, studying with Gunther Schuller and Seiji Ozawa. In 1986, Sir Georg Solti chose him to become the assistant conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for seven years under both Solti and Daniel Barenboim. In 1986 he was invited by Leonard Bernstein to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic. He has appeared with most major orchestras in the United States. In 2014 he gave a TEDx Talk and was featured by Musical America as one of their "Profiles in Courage."