Alumni Profile: Morgan Ballard

Morgan Ballard graduated from TWS as a member of Mr. Wright’s class of 2012. After attending BASIS Tucson North for 9th through 11th grades and graduating from Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, he received his bachelor’s degree in 2020 from St. John’s College in Maryland. This spring, Morgan completed a master’s degree in viola performance from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford in Connecticut, an internationally acclaimed performing arts conservatory. Morgan is not finished with his education and has his sights set on becoming a conductor one day; he anticipates pursuing a doctorate in conducting. In the short term, Morgan will be enjoying a summer full of music, travel, and fun, including attending a choral program and a conducting workshop and finishing the summer with a month in Graz, Austria performing at a music festival. Come August, Morgan will begin working at TWS as the new orchestra teacher for Grades 4 through 8! Serendipitously, his planned move back to Tucson aligned with the position becoming available. At the time Morgan was a student at Tucson Waldorf School, there was not an orchestra program (per our 2017 conversation, linked here), so he is very much looking forward to meeting the students and starting work with the TWS orchestra!