Denison taps Morris as Vail Series director

Denison University President Adam Weinberg has announced that Michael Morris has been appointed as the new director of the Vail Series, the college’s acclaimed visiting performing arts program.

Morris was the production manager for the series in 2012 and was named as interim director at the retirement of founding director Lorraine Wales in 2013, who had led the program from its inception in 1979.

“The product of a liberal arts education himself, Mike has a keen understanding of the potential for the Vail Series to enhance our students’ liberal arts education,” Weinberg said in the announcement. “He has made it a high priority to increase residencies and other opportunities for student interaction with Vail artists. I look forward to the continued success of the Vail Series and the role it will play in our students’ educational experiences under Mike’s leadership.”

Morris is a seasoned arts management professional, with 13 years of experience, including more than eight as the executive director of Newark’s Midland Theatre.

He was nominated on two occasions for the Governor’s Award for the Arts in the Arts Administration category. Through his consulting firm, pARTnership Consulting, Morris is knowledgeable of talents in the arts world, and he is well connected in performing arts networks.

“Denison is a special place,” said Morris. “Our visiting artists always comment on how engaged the students and faculty are, how warmly they are welcomed, and how beautiful the setting is. They develop relationships here.”

Morris added, “And for the students to be able to spend time with these artists outside the concert setting, to deepen learning and expand their thinking, really is special. I feel fortunate to be a part of that process.”

As interim director of the Vail Series, Morris led and worked with a new Vail Series Advisory Committee, worked closely with the Vail student interns to elevate their visibility and facilitate an enhancement of their roles, executed a successful 2013-14 Vail season and negotiated a first-rate line-up for the 2014-15 series, which includes artists Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer and Billy Collins.