{"id":122074,"date":"2026-02-26T13:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=122074"},"modified":"2026-02-27T07:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:00:02","slug":"interview-violist-jesse-morrison-talks-new-release-transitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/02\/26\/interview-violist-jesse-morrison-talks-new-release-transitions\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Violist Jesse Morrison Talks About His New Release: Transitions"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_122075\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-122075\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-122075\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-02-26T112428.084.jpg\" alt=\"Violist Jesse Morrison (Photo courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-02-26T112428.084.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-02-26T112428.084-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-02-26T112428.084-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2026-02-26T112428.084-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-122075\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Violist Jesse Morrison (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Violist Jesse Morrison\u2019s debut solo album Transitions will be released on February 27. Morrison is a Toronto native, currently based in Calgary, where he\u2019s performed with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra for seven seasons.<\/p>\n<p>The album includes the work of four composers, three of them living, including an American, Hungarian, and Australian.<\/p>\n<p>In the album materials, Morrison says that he sees the viola as a storyteller, and on the album, he takes his listeners through a journey of what the instrument is capable of, and draws connections between Baroque and contemporary music.<\/p>\n<p>LV caught up with Jesse to talk about the release.<\/p>\n<p>Jesse Morrison plays Gy\u00f6rgy Kurt\u00e1g\u2019s In Nomine all&#8217;ongherese:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rj7kd1Kyqgw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Jesse Morrison, viola<\/h2>\n<p>Violist Jesse Morrison performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. He graduated from Toronto\u2019s Glenn Gould School with an Artist\u2019s Diploma, and from the University of Toronto with a BMus degree. His quartet won the Felix Galimir Award from the University of Toronto with recitals in both Walter Hall and The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n<p>He followed with a MMus from the New England Conservatory as a recipient of the Sylva Gelber Foundation Award. While he was in Boston, he served as the Teaching Assistant for the studio of Kim Kashkashian, and made his debut at NEC\u2019s Jordan Hall in a solo performance of the Ligeti Sonata. He was awarded First Prize for both NEC Concerto Competitions, performing the Bart\u00f3k Viola Concerto and Britten&#8217;s Lachrymae. He was also he was awarded the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award and the Honors Award with his quartet.<\/p>\n<p>Jesse is an alumnus of the Hindemith Foundation led by Tabea Zimmermann, Yellow Barn Music<br \/>\nFestival, Kneisel Hall, the New York String Seminar, Domaine Forget, the Banff Centre and Scotia<br \/>\nFestival of Music.<\/p>\n<p>He has performed as artist in residence at the Capital City Concerts, Chamberfest West, Chamber Music at New Park, Classical Music Institute, Concerts in the Barn, Continuum Concerts, Festival Mozaic, Flatirons Chamber Music Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, NEXUS Chamber Music, Sound Atlas Festival and Sunset Chamberfest.<\/p>\n<p>In his seventh season as a member of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Jesse has also performed with the Toronto Symphony and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras. He is also a dedicated chamber musician, and has collaborated with artists such as Donald Weilerstein, Kim Kashkashian, Joel Krosnick, Pekka Kuusisto, the Amici Ensemble, and the Boston Trio, among others. Jesse was the founding violist of the Neruda Quartet in Boston and Arkadas Quartet in Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>As a music educator, Jesse has served on faculty at theAmici String Program and Mount Royal University as both a Chamber Music Professor and Viola Professor.<\/p>\n<p>Jesse currently plays on a 1971 Otto Erdesz Viola and a modern bow by Kaspar Pankow.<\/p>\n<h3>Transitions<\/h3>\n<p>Transitions includes four tracks, and begins with a work he commissioned from composer <strong>Derek David<\/strong> titled Partita for Solo Viola. It\u2019s followed by the debut recording of <strong>Brett Dean<\/strong>\u2019s Skizzen f\u00fcr Siegbert (2011), which premiered in Berlin in 2012 as the compulsory piece for the Max Rostal Viola Competition.<\/p>\n<p>Selections from <strong>Gy\u00f6rgy Kurt\u00e1g<\/strong>\u2019s Signs, Games and Messages follows. It\u2019s a work of delightful miniatures in the composer\u2019s distinctive style. The album closes with a viola transcription of<br \/>\n<strong>Georg Philipp Telemann<\/strong>\u2019s Fantasia No. 1 in E flat.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout, Morrison draws connections between Baroque and contemporary music through their shared language of rhythm, form, and gesture.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_122077\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-122077\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-122077\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-NEWS-2026-02-26T112543.794.jpg\" alt=\"Violist Jesse Morrison (Photo courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-NEWS-2026-02-26T112543.794.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-NEWS-2026-02-26T112543.794-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-NEWS-2026-02-26T112543.794-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-NEWS-2026-02-26T112543.794-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-122077\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Violist Jesse Morrison (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Jesse Morrison: The Interview<\/h3>\n<p>How did he come to choose the viola as an instrument?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was a kid, I started playing violin when I was really young. I started playing violin when I was three,\u201d Morrison says.<\/p>\n<p>His father had played violin in his 30s, and showed Jesse the instrument many times as a child. Jesse became intrigued, and began to play himself. The viola, he says, came into his life through high school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was never enough violas in the class,\u201d he recalls. His music teacher persuaded him to try, and he was instantly entranced. \u201cI knew that that instrument was something that felt different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It presented a different sound world to him than that of the violin. \u201cI was really hooked into it then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He came to a new understanding of music through the instrument.<\/p>\n<p>Jesse recalls playing the slow movement of Ravel\u2019s string quartet as a teenager. \u201cFor violists it\u2019s one of the best things you can play in terms of slow movements,\u201d he says. He mentions the warmth of the sound, and the closeness to a human voice. \u201cI almost felt like I was talking,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt like I was able to convey more than just playing the instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He felt the immediacy of the sound, and noticed how audience members were drawn to it. A friend\u2019s father, who played in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, heard him, and advised him to make the switch. Jesse was about 17 at the time, and it happened at just the right time. \u201cRight before going away for college.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was accepted into the University of Toronto based on the strength of his audition on the viola.<\/p>\n<h3>The Viola As A Shapeshifter<\/h3>\n<p>The viola, as he points out, performs in both orchestras and string quartets in the middle range, sometimes along with second violins or perhaps oboes, but sometimes in the higher, mezzo soprano range.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a sense of the instrument that plays different roles,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re constantly finding different ways of blending with instruments in an orchestral setting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like all the instruments in a string quartet, it plays a unique role, but also one that is changeable. \u201cYou\u2019re sometimes under the radar., but you\u2019re creating something different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a listener, you\u2019re sometimes quite aware of its role, but other times that\u2019s not the case. It can play harmonies or melodies. \u201cIt has a way of surprising people,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople are mesmerized by the nature and the functionality of the viola.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_122076\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-122076\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-122076\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Transitions_EP_Cover.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of Jesse Morrison's Transitions EP (Photo courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Transitions_EP_Cover.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Transitions_EP_Cover-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Transitions_EP_Cover-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Transitions_EP_Cover-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Transitions_EP_Cover-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-122076\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cover of Jesse Morrison&#8217;s Transitions EP (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>The Album: Transitions<\/h3>\n<p>He wanted to showcase the viola\u2019s versatility in his first solo debut release, among other reasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt stemmed from different things,\u201d he says. \u201cOne was that I wanted to have something that was written for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Derek David\u2019s Partita became a kind of lynch pin of the project. David is a personal friend of Morrison\u2019s. The work honours Bach\u2019s tradition and the structure of his famous Partitas for solo violin with a fresh, contemporary musical language.<\/p>\n<p>During the lockdown, Morrison reached out to various composers. He\u2019d met Brett Dean at summer festivals, and publisher Boosey and Hawkes sent him a bunch of material.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I didn\u2019t have my friend\u2019s piece yet, that was just an idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Derek David had also worked with Brett Dean. In his discussions with Dean about repertoire, the composer mentioned working with Kurt\u00e1g, and premiering one of his pieces. \u201cThey worked together. He got feedback from Kurt\u00e1g, who was someone he really looked up to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dean\u2019s piece actually quotes from Kurt\u00e1g\u2019s work, and so excerpts from Kurt\u00e1g\u2019s Signs, Games and Message seemed a natural addition to the album as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI chose five of them. Ones that I felt pertained to Brett Dean\u2019s music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He closes the album with one of Telemann\u2019s Fantasias, originally written for the violin. Morrison points out that violas typically choose to perform from Telemann\u2019s repertoire for solo cello.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI end the album with something that has some familiarity,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen you get to the Telemann, it feels like you\u2019ve arrived home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Telemann\u2019s warmth bridges the gap between all the contemporary music. The Baroque era is also echoed in David\u2019s opening piece.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe, I think, is brilliant with honouring early music practice,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to tie that into the album by having something that really was Baroque.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a thoughtful selection of pieces designed to take the listener into its exploration of styles and periods.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that, as time goes on, you see less and less of a reaction to the standard and basic programs,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re not as unique.\u201d Combining traditional and new music is becoming more and more common. \u201cNowadays, with all the new music, and all the composers who are living how, I feel like it\u2019s a waste [not to tie them into a whole program],\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>After the release?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve already performed this program a few times,\u201d he says. The program has been performed in Calgary through the Instrumental Society of Calgary at the Lougheed House, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Killian Hall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d really love to come and play this in Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>A First Solo Release<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cOriginally I wasn\u2019t really thinking of it as being anything,\u201d Jesse says of his release. \u201cI think that for me, what I want it to be is sort of segueing into a different part or stage of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He wants to create music he truly believes in, and construct programs with intention. \u201cI want for people to have an experience, or a trip, how one sound world goes into another,\u201d he says. That can involve both connections and disconnections. \u201cNot just to come out as a solo artist, but also to showcase pieces that people don\u2019t really know about it. And also to showcase the viola,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[It\u2019s] an opportunity for me to highlight and celebrate that,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of coming out of my shell a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emerging as a solo artist puts you in a vulnerable position. \u201cI was sort of excited by it, but also terrified by it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was very lucky to have exceptional teachers. They\u2019re all musicians who really excel, especially with solo repertoire,\u201d he says. \u201cI was always so amazed and impressed by that \u2014 to have the opportunity to see how amazing a single musician can be on stage, and command the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a chance to transport your audience beyond the walls of the concert hall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re somewhere else, and I think that is more the leading force of what I\u2019m trying to do rather than being an egotistical thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really not the point of doing what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find Jesse Morrison\u2019s Transitions to stream or buy [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jessemorrisonviola.bandcamp.com\/album\/transitions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? 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