Bio for Tom Morley from Mithril

[Karl Kersey]

I was quite impressed with the Mithril performance and was curious about the fiddler. Well, he's not just a fiddler, he plays violin too! ;)

Mobile Symphony Orchestra
Tom Morley, acting principal
Second Violin

Information: Tom Morley has performed professionally in almost every style of music. He worked as a studio and touring musician in Nashville, earning a gold album with a major country act, before moving to Fairhope in 1993. In his first years in the Mobile area, as a jazz violinist, he did two European tours as a member of the New Orleans Jazz All-Stars and had two jazz CDs in national release. Subsequently, Tom was a founding member (along with MSO member Andra Bohnet) of the Silverwood Quartet, a flute, violin, viola and cello chamber group that specializes in an eclectic blend of world/pop/classical music, and the Celtic/World music group Mithril. As an Irish/Celtic fiddler, he has twice traveled to Ireland to perform and research the music of County Clare and western Ireland. Silverwood has released five CDs, all of which have received airplay on public radio stations throughout the Southeast. Mithril has three CDs in release that have been featured on Celtic Connections, a syndicated radio program heard across the U.S., as well as on AOL World Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Mithril's 'Celtic Christmas' performance with the Mobile Symphony in December 2004 set an all-time attendance record for an MSO Pops Concert series, and the group, currently represented by Artra Artist Management, is being booked to perform with symphonies around the country. As Assistant Principal Second Violin, Tom has been a member of MSO for over a decade and throughout its current inception. He has been a featured soloist with MSO on three occasions, performing on Peter Davies' Orkney Wedding With Sunrise, Ashokan Farewell (which is included on the Mobile Symphony Live In Concert CD), and trading Bluegrass fiddle licks with Kenji Bunch & Citigrass on Orange Blossom Special. In addition, as a member of Silverwood Quartet, he performed on a specially commissioned work for Quartet and Orchestra by composer William Banfield. (Other Silverwood members include MSO musicians Andra Bohnet, Jonathan Clark and Barbara Gabriel.)