Local student lands dream job at 16 years old

CHILLICOTHE— Ethan Morris has been playing instruments in church since he was four years old. Over the years his talent has grown as has his passion for music.

Morris started his musical journey on a child-sized drum kid, it was on this that he would start developing his skills and even performing solos for his church. He would later move on to learn the keyboard and figure out how to play some of his favorite pieces by ear.

Outside of church, he participates in the Marching Cavaliers, Wind Ensemble and the Chillicothe High School Jazz Band. In these he plays piano, percussion french horn and the trumpet.

With all of his musical abilities, Morris is best known for his love of the pipe organ, an instrument he fell in love with after listening to it online. He said the instrument is one of his favorites as it can make a variety of sounds since the player used both their hands and their feet to play.

"It's like an orchestra at your fingertips," said Morris. "There is a lot you can do."

Morris once told his mom he thought it would be interesting to become a church organist and at just 16 years old he reached this goal after passing an audition at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Todd Boler, from St. Pauls, said that the church was interested in helping Morris learn to play hymns, which can be very different than other songs. Since beginning at the church Boler said Morris has "astounded" everybody with his skill level and ability to learn.

"I'm lucky to have this as a first job," said Morris.

As an organist, Morris was recently able to headline his own performance at the church. As he had never performed solo like that before he was excited to show people what he could do but still slightly nervous. Luckily, Morris said most of the nerves are in his head and he is good at not making faces and continuing to play if he messes up so often people listening don't even realize his mistake if he makes one.

As a teenager and an organist, Morris works to balance his time to be able to still have fun and better his skills. He enjoys being able to go to the church and practice on the organ during his free moments. In the future, he hopes to continue his schooling by going into a musical performance program.

Shelby Reeves is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. You can email her at SReeves@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @Shelby_Reeves_

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Teenage organists wows audiences