Morgan Bates is a trumpeter, musicologist, and educator based in Los Angeles, California. Morgan is currently a PhD student and Cota-Robles Fellow studying Musicology at UCLA. A member of the UCLA trumpet studio, they also serve as Third Trumpet of the Rogue Valley Symphony, teach trumpet at HOLA and throughout LA county, and regularly perform with the Gay Freedom Band of LA. 

 

Morgan's performance experiences span widely across genres, from orchestral settings and chamber works to electronic noise music. As a trumpet soloist, Morgan has performed with the Oregon Mozart Players and twice as a concerto competition winner with the Dickinson College Orchestra. Morgan has previously held the position as Second Trumpet in the Oregon Mozart Players and worked with numerous esteemed ensembles, including the Eugene Symphony, Orchestra Next, Newport Symphony, Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble, Oregon Brass Quintet, Eugene Opera, and Sinfonietta Polonia of Poznan, Poland. Additionally, Morgan has collaborated with composers, artists, and creators across the country on projects ranging from commissions to sound art on multi-media production. Most recently, Morgan performed with the UCLA Small Trumpet Ensemble in the 2023 National Trumpet Competition Semi-Finals and earned third place in the International Trumpet Guild's Ryan Anthony Memorial Trumpet Competition Chamber Division...

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As a musicologist, Morgan's work centers queer identity, gender, and sexuality in pop music. In their master's thesis, Morgan explores materiality and musical constructions of queer and racial identity in Janelle Monáe's Dirty Computer. Their current work engages with the emerging drag vocal scene in live performance, reality television competitions, and on the Broadway stage. Morgan has presented at the Pacific Northwest Regional AMS Conference and the Musicking Conference. Morgan is also a research assistant with the Practice-based Experimental Epistemology Lab (PEER Lab) at UCLA.

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A passionate teacher and learner, Morgan earned their Master of Music in Trumpet Performance, Master of Arts in Musicology, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Graduate Certificate from the University of Oregon in 2021. Previously, Morgan received their Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude with departmental honors from Dickinson College. Morgan has received musical training from Jens Lindemann, Brian McWhorter, Sarah Viens, Jeffrey Wohlbach, James Martin, and Jonathan Hays. Outside of music, Morgan is an avid mental health and disability rights advocate and enjoys cooking, traveling, and playing with their cat, Reggie..