Biography
Born in Northern England, Heather received her Bachelor of Music degree from
Sheffield University where she studied piano with Danielle Salamon. Her love of
teaching led her to postgraduate studies in education at Durham University. She
subsequently spent eight years as head of the music department in a junior high
school North of London before moving to the United States, first to Boston and
then to Northern California.
There she maintained two private studios in the San
Francisco Bay area teaching piano, clarinet and theory from beginning to advanced
level and was an active member of and evaluator for the Santa Cruz branch of the
Music Teachers’ Association of California, the National Guild of Piano Teachers, a
member of ASCAP, and a composing/performing member of ‘Piano Renaissance’.
Until her return to England in 2017 Heather was the Classical Music reviewer for the
Santa Cruz Sentinel and music critic for Peninsula Review, and the Performing Arts
of the Monterey Bay. She taught piano lessons at Juvenile Hall and from 2013-2015
was a Director of the State Board of the Music Teachers Association of California
where she was responsible for writing the New Materials Review for the California
Music Teacher state magazine.
Heather as teacher:
Heather spent eight years teaching classroom music, along with English and
social studies, to elementary and junior high school students in England. As the
music director in this multicultural environment she was responsible for the
development of the music curriculum for grades 4 –7, focusing on the music of
the variety of cultures represented in the school – anything from steel band to
hand-bell ensemble and tabla. She instigated a school band and chorus of 90
students and staged several musical concerts and performances each year
showcasing the band, chorus and instrumentalists. She composed for and
directed/conducted the annual school musical.
Upon settling in the San Francisco area she set up a private studio teaching
piano, clarinet and theory to students ranging from preschoolers to retirees and
continued her own musical development as a piano student of Keith Snell, a
composition student of Martha Ashleigh and a jazz piano and improvisation
student of Michael Smolens. Continuing education classes in World Music, Pop
Cultures and twentieth century Russian composers have further broadened her
interests. She maintains her interest in classroom teaching and has taught
recorder ensemble, music appreciation and band instruments and at several
schools in the area.

In the area of private teaching she feels herself to be very honored to spend one
on one time with so many children each week. As a busy mother of three daughters
she has an appreciation of family dynamics and knows how
rarely children get to spend thirty let alone sixty minutes with an adult who is
truly focused on them for every minute of that time. She adapts her teaching
techniques to each student’s needs and learning patterns, employing a wide
variety of teaching materials, books, percussion instruments, games and prize
incentives. She acknowledges the fact that some students takes lessons because
they want to, others have lessons because their parents want them to, still
others want something a little extra on their college resume. Some students are
highly competitive and want to win prizes in competitions and festivals, some
like to perform in recitals with friends, family and student classmates as their
audience, still others can’t imagine anything more daunting than to play for
someone else. For each student she has a personalized program tailored to fit
the student’s needs.
Heather as composer:
Piano Music

Her piano music is available from Willis Music Company. ‘Piano Garden’ is a book of
8 early intermediate piano works inspired by her beautiful garden that is not
without its problems - as ‘March of the Crabgrass’ testifies. In 2006 her ‘Ghost
Town Suite’ - 10 later intermediate/early advanced pieces was published. As in
‘Piano Garden’ each piece is accompanied by a description of what prompted the
piece, whether it was visiting a deserted chapel in Bodie and hearing the voices
of past congregations - ‘somewhat like Debussy meets Charles Ives’ according to
a recent review - or the toe-tapping lilt of a Saturday night dance in the
Goldfield Saloon. In 2003 an evaluator wrote of Heather’s piece ‘Desert
Lullaby’: ‘The wonderful subtleties amidst your flowing melodies are what you
are all about and I hope that you never let anyone make you feel that you need
to change it.’ Of her own work Heather writes: ‘Ghost towns fascinate me. Since
moving to America’s West coast I have explored many of the ruins and fragments
of towns that were once bustling places in the early Gold rush days, but are now
silent and empty. Most of these places are situated in the desert and require
considerable journeys to rediscover. In wintertime the snow covers many of the
foundations of buildings that may have once been schools, post offices or
saloons, and in the summer time the relentless sun makes the ruins shimmer in
the heat of the day.’
Chamber Music For Woodwinds
Her over 30 works for woodwind (published by Tapmusic) range from beginners’
pieces for solo instrument with easy piano accompaniment to more advanced works
for woodwind trios, quartets and quintets. Her published flute quartet, composed at the
request of her flute-playing daughter for the flute ensemble class at the University of
California at Santa Cruz, had its premier performance in the fall of 2006. She performed
her piece for flute and piano, Masquerade, with her daughter, Sarah, at the 7th San
Francisco Festival of Contemporary Music. Several of her works for woodwind ensemble
were performed by colleagues at the Santa Cruz library in Heather’s one woman show in
February, 2011.
Music For Large Ensembles
In February of 2004 her piece for chamber orchestra, ‘Gold Fever Jazz’ was
selected from over 60 pieces after an international call for scores, and was
given its world premier in Minneapolis by the Minnesota Sinfonia. Michael
Anthony of the The Star Tribune said: ‘The concert opened with the premier
performance of San Francisco composer Heather Morris’ ‘Gold Fever Jazz’ from her
‘Ghost Town Suite,.’ a depiction of cities that exist now only in memory. ‘Gold
Fever Jazz’ is a sprightly dance number, rather like a cakewalk with touches of
ragtime, along with a contrasting slower section in the middle, all brightly
orchestrated.’
In January 2011 her piece for wind band, ‘Pictures from the East’ was performed
by the 75 members of the Symphonic Winds of Cabrillo College, Aptos under the
direction of Jon Nordgren
Current Projects

Rehearsing the premier of my string sextet: Affetside
Heather completed a commission to compose an
anthem for a church choir in the San Francisco Bay area. recently put the
finishing touches to a history/biography book entitled ‘Keyboard Composers in the Spotlight’, an in depth
study of the life stories of famous composers of keyboard music filled with
anecdotes about their lives, a study of their environment and culture and its
impact on their music. Over the last few years she has been teaching group
lessons based on the book and finds that students are fascinated by music
history when it is presented in a fun, engaging manner.
As a member of the Osher Life Long Learning Institute at UCSC she performed as a
member of several chamber music groups. In 2011 she joined Monterey Composers
Forum and has taken part in a performance of her own music at the Hidden Valley
seminar in Carmel Valley. She also accompanied the string program at Cabrillo
Community College and in the summer of 2012 began work as the classical music
reviewer for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
A few years ago she embarked upon a research project to find the first pianos that came to
California. She has traveled throughout the state from San Diego to Fort Ross,
delving into the undergrowth in search for the remains of the adobe which housed
the man that brought 3 of these early pianos around Cape Horn in 1843 to
rummaging through the sea of artifacts housed in huge warehouses in Sacramento
and finding the piano that belonged to Patti Reed of the Donner party in 1849,
and which she played in Capitola.
Read the blog
Heather as . . .
Her love of the outdoors often takes her on hikes,
through cities, across deserts or along the coast. She’s a keen photographer –
often using her photos as inspiration for a new composition – and writes and
illustrates elaborate vacation journals. She has had several articles published
by travel magazines and won the Dead Albatross award in ‘Business Traveler’ for
her account of a visit to Romania. Since she finds it impossible to watch
television without keeping her fingers occupied there’s always a new quilt or
piece of knitting under way. In all of these pursuits she is encouraged by, and
has the wonderful companionship of, her three daughters who constantly exclaim
‘Go mom!’ at her latest escapade.