Meet Miguel Morales | Composer, Musical Director, Producer & Guitarist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Miguel Morales and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Miguel, the decisions we make often shape our story in profound ways. What was one of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make?
The hardest decision I have ever made was deciding to leave my home, my friends, family, partner, peers, coworkers, students, and my own culture, to follow my passion and achieve my own personal goal of becoming a better musician. When contemplating this decision I thought about how I could stay in Peru and be a teacher or I could try my luck in the US. The US is known as a land of opportunity, I wanted this for myself. However, this decision was difficult because Peru was all I knew, it was safe, it was comfortable. Boarding a plane to Boston alone with just the little belongings I had and my hopes and dreams was a risk. I ultimately decided that the potential reward was worth the risk. I decided to leave Lima, Peru, to pursue music at my dream school, Berklee College of Music. What introduced me to music in the first place and made me want to pursue music seriously and take up the guitar was metal. My friends introduced me to Dream Theater who became my idols and I came to find out that some of their members attended Berklee. I wanted to learn from the best—Berklee is the best and most renowned music school in the world. I wanted to be where those who became successful studied. I knew what I wanted to do, and when I researched how those I admired got to where they were, I realized Berklee was a necessary step to become like them. If you love what you do you will never work a day in your life. I discovered the job that I knew would make me feel this way, and the means of getting there made Berklee an inevitable unquestionable choice for my musical development. During my first year at Berklee, adapting to the new environment was very challenging as predicted, but the support of the friends I made along the way was crucial. Every time I’ve been on stage or led a production, the support and trust from the audience and my peers has been the most beautiful and transformative experience. These moments made the risk worthwhile. Even though it was the hardest decision, I am glad I made the choice to travel to a foreign country, experience being an international student to receive not only a degree from Berklee, but eventually, my new community. This journey has taught me so much, contributing not only to my development as a musician and professional but also as a human being.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Getting to where I am today wasn’t easy. My first experience in the music field was in my home country, Peru, where I started working as an independent transcriber and as a teacher in a school and in an academy. I was working to save money and never believed that the promise of studying music in the United States would come true. I sent my application to Berklee College of Music in 2016, and it wasn’t until 2019 that I received my acceptance letter. I got my acceptance letter to Berklee in the middle of a hard family situation as my grandmother passed away two days before I received the news. I then had to rethink my plans for 2019, as I intended to continue producing my band’s first EP. In the end, I finished recording all of my parts, and continued producing remotely. I arrived in Boston in the Fall of that year, leaving behind my friends, family and my partner of that time. Nevertheless, during my first months here in the U.S. Berklee gave me the chance to have my music played by a big ensemble of musicians. That opportunity was a life changing experience for me. Even though I had always been confident in my music, in Peru, I had endured mockery for the longest time. I had been mocked by both my teachers and peers, they would say taunting comments to me such as, “how nice your Sibelius sounds,” referring to the clunky and mechanical playback sound of the music notation program I use. Through this mockery I persisted and due to my faith in my music and my dedication to it I landed a spot in Berklee, which made it worth it. I was attending Berklee in 2020 when unfortunately the pandemic came and interrupted my time at Berklee for two years. After two years away from Berklee, I was able to return thanks to a scholarship that I was awarded available for a year. Throughout my time in school, I was a part of as many shows as I could be, as a music director, conductor and arranger. I kept receiving so many positive comments about my music from both musicians and people from the audience which encouraged me to keep following my intuition. I didn’t stop as the reactions to my music motivated me to continue. Eventually all my hard work led me to discover the joy and happiness of producing a show at Berklee, “Latin America Vive”. In producing this show I worked closely along with my Berklee peers and the members of the cast which led to many of them becoming very close friends of mine. Putting together a show with more than 50 people on stage was a great undertaking, but I managed it with the help of the production team I gathered. Together we worked tirelessly on the marketing, logistics, musical direction, and stage plot designs. I curated a vision and my team helped me to put each of my ideas together. It was the most amazing experience I have ever had. Other experiences that were also equally important and memorable for me were: performing for 5000 people in the MGM Music Hall and being a part of the show “Idolos Latinos”, in which I had the chance to share the stage with one of my greatest music idols, Tony Succar. Additionally another opportunity I have valued was being able to be on stage twice with Gilberto Santa Rosa, a Salsa artist and someone who is considered an Idol in Latin America and my country. Writing music has always guided my path. Still today, my situation presents difficulties and its own challenges but I know that writing music is what I am devoted to. Even though the future may be uncertain, I know that writing music is my calling and what I will continue doing. I feel strongly about this and know I will stay on my path of being a musician because I know that my music connects with people and with the musicians who play it. Through my music, I tell stories, and those stories are brought to life by the ensembles and artists I write for.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some places that I would take my friends in Boston would be Ernesto’s Pizzeria in the North End. That place has one of the best pizzas I have ever tried in the city. The North End is known as an Italian neighbourhood so I would also show them Mike’s Pastry, which is a place that has some good cannolis. The East Boston area is also somewhere I would show them, as I really like the restaurants over there. Taqueria Jalisco is a place I would definitely take them, as it has the most authentic Mexican food in Boston that I’ve tried in the city. Nearby is a Peruvian rotisserie chicken place called El Chalan and next to it is Rincon Limeño, both are Peruvian food restaurants that really remind me of home. Also, the place I would take my friends to have good Peruvian food in Boston is Peruvian Taste, which is my favorite Peruvian restaurant here. Aside of food places, the Boston Commons and The Docks by the Charles River Esplanade are two places that I would go for spending the time and sightseeing some good spots of the city. We could also watch a show at TD Garden, the MGM Music Hall or at the Berklee Performance Center. The city of Boston has many good spots that I enjoy a lot.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate this to my parents, my family, my dearest and beloved Crystal Boyer who is my greatest inspiration, my friends who helped along the way, my mentors: Anthony Ly, Gerardo Loyola, Ania Paz, Oscar Stagnaro and, Lee Abe; the teachers who helped me while I was here in Boston: Renato Milone, Ricardo Monzón, Bernardo Hernández, Matthew Nicholl and, Leo Blanco. To my uncle Carlos and my aunt Jackie who had me with them during my time stranded during the pandemic. Guidian Shturman, my brother from another country, and the Shturman family who were my guardian angels. To Damien Bracken, Kathy Anderson, Joshua Garcia and the scholarship department at Berklee, because without their support I wouldn’t have made it. To Jeffrey Lockhart who was my private instructor and someone that helped me so much with his words and support on the instrument. To the Latin American Association of Berklee Students who helped me to be the musical director I am now. To Breno Tito Caballero, José Miguel Asmat, Gianmarco Solari, Alonso Suárez Romero, Javier Abregú and Jandy Torres, who I consider my second family in Lima and in music. To Kyle Reinhardt, my brother that Berklee gave me, to Rafael Arboccó, Carlos Tejada, Emmanuel Mendives who always cared about me and specially to my Boston family Alex Alvarado, Victor Badillo, Tascha Jeunet, Marianna Matyja, Jenny Chu, Matías de Hoyos, Levi Palomares, Pipe Álvarez, Pipe Silva, Felipe Vallessi, Kamoru, Oscar Pacheco, Mauricio Egúsquiza, Luisa Yamille, Nandini Agarwala, Amy Rivera, because you all made it worth it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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Other: https://hihello.me/p/37deb388-f6f7-4c74-acce-5accbd8894bb?sharer_id=awFPYzcgRwVXSM2S7yFPCXXje4v2

Image Credits
Dave Green Photo, KD Studio, Berklee College of Music, Andres Cepeda and Mar Fayos.