Michael Morgan was ahead of his time. The beloved music director of the Oakland Symphony opened the doors of classical music, welcoming new audiences to the concert hall and expanding the limits of what symphonic programs could offer.
Morgan, who died Aug. 20 in Oakland of complications from a recent kidney transplant, was 63. He is survived by his mother, Mabel Morgan, and sister, Jacquelyn Morgan.
The longtime Oakland resident conducted throughout the Bay Area and beyond. His work included terms as music director of the Walnut Creek-based Festival Opera, the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Bear Valley Music Festival, along with guest appearances with organizations including the San Francisco Symphony.
But it was Morgan’s inclusive style of music-making at the Oakland Symphony that distinguished him. His directorship elevated the organization’s profile, both in the kinds of music he presented and the wide reach he achieved in attracting new audiences to the orchestra’s home in the Paramount Theatre.
His programs often made surprising connections, pairing repertory standards with works by unsung composers and music from other genres. One characteristically eclectic Morgan program featured music by Stravinsky and Ravel, with encores by Stevie Wonder and Prince.
Morgan, who joined the Symphony as music director in 1988, fostered collaboration, expanding the organization’s education and outreach to local schools and attracting audiences new to classical music. He did it simply by engaging directly with his city’s diverse population.
During his tenure, he welcomed to the Paramount stage guest artists not associated with classical performance — including Bay Area rock guitar god Carlos Santana, jazz icon Isaac Hayes, and sitar master Ravi Shankar. He curated the orchestra’s Side by Side programs, bringing labor organizer Dolores Huerta, comedian-activist W. Kamau Bell, the late civic leader Bernard J. Tyson and other leaders onstage to talk about music that mattered to them.
He conducted Fourth of July concerts at Richmond’s Craneway Pavilion, featuring local heroes such as National Parks Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin. Always attuned to his city’s struggles, in 2018 he dedicated a concert to the 36 “artists and dreamers” who perished in the devastating Ghost Ship fire.
A committed advocate for music education, Morgan oversaw his organization’s Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra and MUSE (Music for Excellence) programs, and taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Born in Washington, D.C., Morgan attended public schools and began conducting at age 12. He attended Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and spent a summer at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, in Massachusetts, studying with conductors Gunther Schuller and Seiji Ozawa. He made his operatic debut in 1982 at the Vienna State Opera, conducting Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio.” Georg Solti, another mentor, chose him as assistant conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post Morgan held for seven years.
His greatest influence was Leonard Bernstein. In 1986, the great composer-conductor invited Morgan to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic. Appearances with the New York City Opera, St. Louis Opera Theater and Washington National Opera followed. Bernstein remained a powerful influence for Morgan; one of his initiatives at the Oakland Symphony was an “American Masterworks” series that featured concert performances of the composer’s “West Side Story” and “Candide.”
In addition to his work at the Oakland Symphony, Morgan was a guiding force at the Walnut Creek-based Festival Opera. He joined the company in 1995 as an advisor, becoming music and artistic director in 1997; in the seasons that followed, he led productions including a contemporary staging of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” a radiant production of Ned Rorem’s “Our Town,” and a 2013 “Otello.” In recent years, he continued to serve the company in the capacity of artistic advisor.
In 2020, Morgan became the first curator of San Francisco Symphony’s online Currents series; earlier this year, he conducted the San Francisco Symphony in a program featuring Louise Farrenc, a composer he championed in a 2019 Oakland Symphony program.
Throughout, the Oakland Symphony remained his musical home. He conducted an eclectic range of programs there, earning acclaim for his performances in works ranging from standard repertoire to 20th-century masterworks: a memorable 2005 performance of Bernstein’s “Mass”; music by Bay Area composers John Adams and Jake Heggie; a 2018 program titled “Pride and Prejudice: Notes from LGBTQ,” which featured the world premiere of “With the Right Music” by Jonathan Larson Award winners Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne. Morgan and Lynne Morrow, the Symphony’s chorus director, built a loyal following for the organization’s annual “Let Us Break Bread Together” holiday concert.
Morgan’s final Oakland Symphony performance was in February 2020, on a program that included Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. At the time of his death, he had been scheduled to lead the orchestra in an outdoor concert at Brooklyn Basin.
Blazing a singular path, Morgan opened doors for many others. He did it with enthusiasm, musical insight, and singular focus, always ready for the next collaboration, the next musical exploration.
Bay Area music lovers got it. His audience, Morgan once said, really wanted “to see you go out on a limb.” In a 2013 interview for the Bay Area Newsgroup, he told music critic Richard Scheinin that his work in Oakland was a source of great satisfaction.
“I can’t imagine leaving it,” said Morgan. “I just can’t imagine leaving this orchestra, because it works perfectly. We’re all still having a good time.”
Contact Georgia Rowe at growe@pacbell.net.