South Carolinian Ralph Winston Morris (born 1941), known for his signature "soul patch

Soul patch

The soul patch is a small patch of facial hair just below the lower lip and above the chin. It came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was a style of facial hair common among African American men, most notably jazzmen. It became popular with beatniks, artists, and those who frequented...

", is the professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of Tuba

Tuba

The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...

 and Euphonium

Euphonium

The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...

 at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee

Cookeville, Tennessee

Cookeville is a city in Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 23,923 at the 2000 census. of Cookeville's population was 30,435, and the combined total of those living in Cookeville's in 2010 was 65,014. It is the county seat of Putnam County and home to Tennessee...

. He is editor of http://www.amazon.com/dp/0253328896The Tuba Source Book and the Euphonium Source Book. As the conductor of the famed Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble, he started promoting jazz tuba performance in an ensemble setting as early as 1967. Morris created the world’s first tuba/euphonium ensemble at Tennessee Tech. The Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble has performed under Morris' Direction on Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street is a famous and historic street that spans the length of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. When founded in 1718, the city was originally centered around the French Quarter...

 and at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Disney World, the National MENC

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

MENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...

 Conference in Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, the International T.U.B.A. Conference in Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 and in Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 7 times, produced 22 commercial recordings, some which have been grammy nominated, and generated more than 600 compositions for the tuba, euphonium and tuba ensemble. R. Winston Morris put together the world’s first Euphonium Choir and organized the first ever recording project for Euphonium Choir.

R. Winston Morris was a student of William Bell

William Bell (tuba player)

William Bell was the premier player and teacher of the tuba in America during the first half of the 20th century. In 1921 He joined the band of John Philip Sousa, and from 1924 to 1937 he served as Principal Tuba with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra...

, tuba player for the John Phillip Sousa Band. Winston was also a member of the Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Consort

Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Consort

Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Consort is a US big band scored for low brass instruments – trombones, euphoniums, and tubas – performed by artists who are renowned in jazz or classical or both.-History:...

 with Rich Matteson

Rich Matteson

Rich A. Matteson, was an American jazz artist, collegiate music educator, international jazz clinician, big band leader, and jazz composer/arranger...

, Ashley Alexander, John Allred

John Allred (musician)

John Allred is an American jazz trombonist. He is the son of another jazz trombonist, Bill Allred.Immediately after graduating high school, John Allred moved to southern California and started his professional music career with the Jazz Minors, a six-piece Dixieland group at Disneyland in Anaheim...

, Buddy Baker on Euphonium

Euphonium

The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...

, Harvey Phillips

Harvey Phillips

Harvey Phillips was a professor emeritus of the , Indiana University, Bloomington and dedicated advocate for the tuba.-Biography:Phillips was a professional freelance musician from 1950 to 1971, winning his first professional...

 & Daniel Perantoni. Currently, he is the tubist for the Brass Arts Quintet.

Morris also created and now conducts Symphonia, a tuba/euphonium ensemble made up of professional players rather than students. A recent reunion concert billed as Tubas of Mass Destruction

Mass destruction

Mass destruction may refer to:* Weapon of mass destruction, a munition with the capacity to indiscriminately kill large numbers of living beings* Weapons of Mass Destruction , a 2004 album by rapper Xzibit...

, held in 2007 at Tennessee Tech University, included over 100 current and former students from his 40 years of teaching. Throughout his teaching career Morris has encouraged his students to arrange and compose pieces of music for the ensemble, which was necessary in the early days of the group as there was virtually no repertoire in existence for them to play. Beside the pedagogical value, student works account for a large proportion of the ensemble's repertoire and have provided challenging material for later tuba/euphonium groups around the world.