Always the Music

How a Lifelong Passion Framed a Future for Orchestras

By: Thomas W. Morris

Narrated by: Thomas W. Morris, Barbara Hannigan

Always The Music is the fascinating story of Morris’ personal metamorphosis through the highest levels of the world of classical music, his learning and insights into how storied musical institutions function, great artists create, and audiences engage.

Over the course of 34 years running the Boston Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra, he had the growing realization that American orchestras had become ingrown on themselves, with rigid structures and cultures that conspired to perpetuate those structures rather than the music experiences they were built to create. Stepping back from orchestras and looking to experiment with his evolving insights, he became artistic director of the Ojai Music Festival. Its size, its setting, its unique structure and a long history with many of the world’s most innovative and influential musicians and composers provided an opportunity for Morris to reimagine musical experiences by challenging all aspects of making music and producing concerts.

The first part of the book recounts Morris’s journey through close collaborations with key individuals and projects, while the final chapters synthesizes his career lessons into an unequivocal but thoughtful prescription for the future of the American orchestra. Mostly, though, this is the entertaining story of one man’s lifelong love affair with great music and the people who make it.

©2024 Thomas W. Morris (P)2024 Thomas W. Morris

The inspiration and rejuvenation I needed going into 2025!

An essential read for anyone invested in the future of classical music. Morris redefines artistic excellence by emphasizing innovation, collaboration, and deep audience engagement. He advocates for challenging programming norms and fostering creativity and underscores the need for visionary leadership to uphold artistic integrity in our evolving musical landscape. Offering an unparalleled insider's perspective on the evolution of American orchestras, this entertaining memoir serves as both a testament to a lifelong passion and a call for innovation and resilience in our industry. I highly recommend it to colleagues, musicians, and all who care about the future of orchestral music. -Mieko Hatano

Brilliant and Essential for any Arts Leader

Tom Morris has penned a brilliant book capturing decades of insights and experience. Having worked his way up at the Boston Symphony, later leading that complex organization, he went on to lead the Cleveland Orchestra and the Ojai Music Festival - transforming both and taking them to the next level. As a classically trained percussionist, he understands the myriad forces that push and pull a great professional orchestra. But even more, he understands the people on and off stage who make and shape the music. Those insights allowed him to lead with vision and credibility. He went on to lead the Ojai Music Festival brilliantly. Tom's observations are to the point, very candid about successes and challenges, and are inspiring for their unswerving commitment to the art form. This is not simply a compelling memoir, it is the evidence of a life well lived in service to music that, in fact, enabled his professional success. The word "integrity" is evidenced in the many anecdotes shared in the book, and the respect in which Tom Morris is and has been held by many of the greatest in the orchestra world is a very rare thing. Anyone aspiring to leadership in the symphony orchestra world, or in any professional arts organization, should devour this book immediately. There are insights here one will find nowhere else. Hearing it in his own voice is even better. Bravo, Tom.

His Heart’s in Music

I’ve never met Tom Morris but have lived in Cleveland since 1958 and am a longtime subscriber to the Cleveland Orchestra. Thus I am not an impartial absorber of Tom’s book. It is wonderfully detailed about so many things that are vital to me, including advice that the music world needs to pay attention to, for its health.

An important work and a good performance

Tom Morris is an important person in the Classical Music business in the last half century. He relates his vast experience with various ventures (such as the Boston Symphony and Cleveland Orchestras). He describes his work with a series of important characters, including Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops.

Tom finishes his account with wise advice about how orchestras might reformulate their programming to better meet the new audience’s now encountered today. Hint: it isn’t by continuing to conservative path now being pursued.

Tom’s knowledge of the music business in encyclopedic. He uses numerous specific examples of how change could be implemented.

The performance by the author is flawless - communicating Tom’s personality and enthusiasm for music.