In choosing Victor Morgan as FAB’s (Fine Arts Boosters) featured artist for February, music teacher Adam Campagna wrote, “Victor is a very talented and dedicated musician. He plays an active role in our Wind Ensemble on the contrabass clarinet and is pianist for the Kingston High School Jazz Ensemble and is one of the band’s equipment managers.”
As I interviewed the KHS junior, I was once again wowed by the talented life of a KHS artist. He is intense and serious and his email address includes “pianoman,” which tells us his passion for music.
“It is fun, different from normal school where I can express myself with piano, clarinet and contrabass,” Victor said.
I learned that the contrabass is the biggest clarinet still used and is played the same as the familiar clarinet, with the music in the treble clef. Lower-bassed clarinets are no longer used; the human ear could not hear their lowest notes.
The Bremerton Symphony Youth Orchestra, which performs in the Bremerton High School Auditorium, is blessed with Victor and his clarinets. He began playing the clarinet in the sixth-grade band and his piano lessons began at age 10. Dianne Johnston of Poulsbo is his piano teacher.
Having always lived in North Kitsap, Victor said he “likes the rain pattering on the windows.” His favorite activities are playing piano and reading epic fantasy. He said “The Great Gatsby” is the best book he’s ever read.
Victor had a difficult time deciding his choices for his favorite music, among them Eric Burdon of the Animals, Eric Clapton, and British rock group Status Quo.
Students now must pay much of their music-study costs, and Victor said “you get a real education. Serious artists are better students and learn how to express themselves.”
He was recently one of four KHS musicians selected to go to Pacific Lutheran University for the High School Honor Band, rehearsing for two full days for a Saturday evening concert.
Not only does he express himself through music, he debates.
“It is good to be able to speak in front of people and to form points and arguments for meaningful conversation,” he said.
Victor said he thinks it is good to see both sides of an issue, and he believes in bi-partisan politics.
“If Congress lived in Washington, D.C. with family, and personal political relationships preserved like they used to be instead of often flying home, that would deal with polarization,” he said.
He does not like the Stop Online Piracy Act.
Oh, and about his future? “I don’t think about it. I just enjoy high school,” he said.
FAB constantly thinks about the future of the Arts at KHS. To borrow words from Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat about artists, “Their passionate devotion to art and their positive attitude toward life has profoundly moved me.”
Me too!
At a time when society’s dour mood is all about cutting back, FAB and KHS arts teachers are taking a “flying leap with ludicrous optimism” (Westneat’s words.) So, join us on Facebook and see what we are up to.
