Quinton Morris, DMA, Associate Professor, Violin, will be honored as a recipient of the distinguished “Pathfinder Award” by the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa for his scholarship and community work as an educator and youth advocate through his work with his nonprofit organization, Key to Change, at an event on November 17, 2022.
The “Pathfinder Award” reflects the imagery on the distinguished Phi Beta Kappa key, a hand pointing to the stars and is given to those individuals who "encourage others to seek new worlds to discover, pathways to explore, and untouched destinations to reach. The people, businesses, and institutions honored do something to broaden peoples' interests in active intellectual accomplishments; they reach beyond ordinary routine, beyond the regular requirement of their lives and jobs, in order to break new intellectual ground and/or inspire others to do so.”
As is the executive director and founder of Key to Change, a non-profit violin and viola studio serving South King County, he works to create opportunities for young musicians of color and those from underserved, lower socio-economic backgrounds. He recently moved his string studio to Renton to serve underserved and students of color who live and attend middle or high school students in the South King County area. The new studio location allows students to take lessons with Morris and his staff, participate in master classes with guest artists from diverse cultural and musical backgrounds, receive mentorship and leadership opportunities through the annual Solo String Festival, engage in college preparatory programs and perform in community outreach activities with community partner, the Seattle Symphony.
Dr. Morris is also the inaugural Artist-Scholar-in-Residence at Classical KING FM. He hosts “Unmute The Voices” which celebrates BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) artistry in classical music by highlighting compositions and performances by BIPOC artists and seeks to accelerate the development of equity in classical music by increasing the visibility of the BIPOC community in classical music and to encourage their inclusion in the art form. The program includes classical music composed by people from BIPOC communities, performances by artists of color, and interviews with artists.
He has performed recitals and given master classes around the world including venues at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Louvre Museum.