2013 is both the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth and the 50 year anniversary of his seminal work for solo guitar, Nocturnal after John Dowland. This evening concert marks this historic year with a selection of some of the finest repertoire across the twentieth century.

“Excellent technical control and understanding of music and style” - Mark Eden

“To hear controlled and musically used rubato in tremolo is very special. A very expressive player, Morgan has a great presence when he plays” - Arne Brattland

“A box of fireworks all lit at the same time. Brilliant playing with nothing left to chance!” - Graham Wade

Originally from Artane in Dublin, Morgan began studying classical guitar surprisingly late in the Artane School of Music as a teenager, having originally been interested in rock, pop and folk guitar. Morgan was accepted to study at the DIT Conservatory of Music in Dublin some years later. He received a first class honours (distinction) on the Bachelor of Music program, specialising in performance under the tutelage of the head of the guitar department Dr. John Feeley. He came first in the Conservatory while winning the Anne Leahy Gold Medal for his research into edition of twentieth century guitar repertoire. During that time Morgan won the Guitar Bach Prize, Senior Guitar and the Contemporary Irish Guitar Cup at the RDS Music Festival, the most prestigious competitive guitar festival in Ireland, he is only the second guitarist to have done so. He has won every major competition for guitar in Ireland including the Lyric FM bursary at the Sligo Music Festival, awards at Newpark Music Festival and awards at Arklow Music Festival. He has performed across Ireland including the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) Rising Star Series and the National Concert Hall of Ireland.
    In 2011, Morgan began his studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Having finished first overall in the Master of Music program in his first year, Morgan went on to graduate with distinction in 2013 and won the Royal College of Music Guitar Prize. During this time, he was awarded a performance Fellowship of Trinity College, London. Upon winning the RCM Guitar Prize, the International Guitar Foundation kindly gave him a scholarship to attend and perform at the Bath Guitar Festival. This year, Morgan has been named a prizewinner at the presitigious Ivor Mairants Guitar Award.
    At the RCM, Morgan is conducted research into performer interpretation focusing on new guitar music. In October of 2013, Morgan will continue his studies as part of the PhD program at the Faculty of Music in Cambridge University. He will be investigating the composer-performer dialectic in new music for guitar exploring the distribution of creativity in the collaborative compositional process.
    Morgan is delighted to perform on a lattice braced guitar made by English luthier Philip Woodfield.