5-time Grammy Award-winning musician Michael League at Morley College London 

We were thrilled to welcome Grammy-winning bandleader and producer Michael League to the Emma Cons Halls for an inspiring Q&A and masterclass last week, where he shared insights from his career, spoke about music education and reflected on his personal journey. Then, Morley students performed a jazz improvisation, receiving feedback and guidance from him.

League spoke about the deep connection between music and culture, emphasizing that music is a product of specific cultural and historical contexts. He believes musicians should respectfully engage with music from cultures other than their own by learning its history and traditions, and that music is a tool that can foster understanding and bring people together.

Michael studied jazz at the University of North Texas, worked in Dallas with major figures in gospel, R&B and soul, and was mentored by the legendary Bernard Wright (Miles Davis, Chaka Khan). After nine years in Brooklyn, he relocated to Catalonia, Spain.

As an instrumentalist and producer, he has worked with a diverse range of artists in gospel (Kirk Franklin, Walter Hawkins, Marvin Sapp, Israel Houghton), jazz (Terence Blanchard, Esperanza Spalding, Joshua Redman, Eric Harland, Chris Potter), pop (Silvana Estrada, Julian Lennon, Laura Mvula, Joe Walsh, Michael McDonald), folk (David Crosby, Chris Thile, Becca Stevens, Lau Noah, Silvia Pérez-Cruz), and world music (Youssou Ndour, Gilberto Gil, Eliades Ochoa of the Buena Vista Social Club, Fatoumata Diawara, Bassekou Kouyate, Kardeş Türküler), earning Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations for his work with Afro-Peruvian legend, Susana Baca, on Palabras Urgentes and the Venezuelan group, C4 Trio, on Back to Four.

As founder, bandleader, and primary composer of Snarky Puppy, Michael has earned five Grammy Awards and performed over 1,500 concerts worldwide. He also formed Bokanté, earning three Grammy nominations, and released his debut solo album So Many Me in 2021. His duo albums with Bill Laurance, Where You Wish You Were (2023) and Keeping Company (2024), showcase his work on oud and acoustic guitar bass. In 2024, he launched Elipsis with Pedrito Martinez and Antonio Sánchez, featuring Glenda Del E, exploring Cuba’s Yoruba musical heritage.

His label, GroundUP Music, founded in 2013, expanded into live event curation and created the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach, hosting artists such as Béla Fleck, Lalah Hathaway, Andrew Bird, The Wood Brothers, Robert Glasper, Concha Buika, Terence Blanchard, Joshua Redman, Jacob Collier, Madison Cunningham, Tank and the Bangas, Chris Thile, Louis Cole, and Michael McDonald.

With extensive global touring, cross-genre collaborations, and a commitment to music education, Michael brought exceptional experience to Morley students.

Spectacular concerts at Morley 

In December we have a special celebration marking the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth with a Piano Marathon dedicated to his complete piano works. Join us for a unique evening of performances  https://tronexa.cfd/event/maurice-ravel-150/

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