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Honorary degree is music to the ears of musician

27/09/2016

A conductor and organist has received an Honorary Degree from the University of Wolverhampton.

Peter Morris, the Director of Music at St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton, Conductor of Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra and Organist of Walsall Town Hall received his award from the Faculty of Arts at a graduation ceremony recently held at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. 

The Honorary Fellowship was presented in recognition of Peter’s long history of championing music in the community.

Peter, who has lived and worked in the Black Country for nearly 50 years, said: “I am delighted to receive this award and hope that the strong tradition of classical music making found in the Black Country will continue to thrive. There are still those who say that our area is a cultural desert, but the number of people participating in music and enjoying it is a testament to its power and to the efforts of those who teach it and lead it.”

Peter Morris was born in Huddersfield and has always been a musician. As a boy, he sang in Chester and Manchester Cathedral choirs and then became organ scholar of St John’s College, Durham University. He also has a Master’s degree from Keele University.

He came to the West Midlands in 1969 as Director of Music at Walsall Blue Coat School and in 1991 became Director of Music at St Peter’s School, Wolverhampton. A passionate believer in music in the community, he has been conductor of Walsall Choral Society and West Midlands College Choir, organist of St Matthew’s Parish Church in Walsall, chair of Walsall Arts Council, and is presently director of music at St Peter’s Collegiate Church, organist for Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra, borough organist at Walsall Town Hall, conductor of Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra and chair of Wolverhampton Music Education Hub.

For over 40 years, he has been involved in marking, developing and writing for A Level General Studies and is Chief Examiner for AQA. He greatly deplores the decision to remove the subject from the curriculum and looks forward to the time when someone re-invents it to broaden the experiences and thinking skills of sixth-formers.

ENDS

For more information please contact the Media Relations Office on 01902 32 2736 or 01902 518647.

Date Issued: 27th September 2016

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