First known internationally through his appointment as Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Craig Morris now devotes himself to his work as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Regarded as a leading proponent for new music and original programming, Morris has premiered major pieces by two leading American composers: a concerto by Joel Puckett entitled "The Fifteenth Night of the Moon" and "The Lightning Fields", a work for trumpet and piano by Michael Daugherty. Morris is featured in two solo recordings on the Naxos label: "Concerto for Trumpet and Winds" by Thom Sleeper on the album Reflections (another piece that was written for him) and his acclaimed debut solo album Permit Me Voyage, featuring his own original transcriptions of Debussy, Schumann, Brahms and Barber. These recordings are distributed worldwide and can be heard on radio stations around the globe.
Morris has been featured as a soloist with ensembles and festivals around the world, including concerto appearances with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Miami Bach Society. He has also appeared at leading international festivals including Instrumenta Oaxaca in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Schagerl Brass Festival in Melk, Austria, the Blekinge International Brass Institute in Karlskrona, Sweden and the Beijing Modern Music Festival in Beijing, China. Still active as an orchestral trumpeter, Morris has served as guest principal trumpet with the St. Louis Symphony, the Swedish Radio Orchestra and the Jacksonville Symphony. Since 2007, he has been the principal trumpet of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the world's leading orchestral new music festival, where he has worked closely with some of the leading composers of the time.
Currently based in Miami, Florida, Morris serves as Associate Professor of Trumpet at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He has been a Yamaha Artist since 2015.
