Mwalim

Piano

Mwalim (Morgan James Peters) is a multi-award-winning musician, composer, vocalist, arranger, playwright, poet, and novelist. A member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, with his maternal side originating from Barbados, much of his work as a composer and writer explore the American experiences of ‘Black Natives’. A violist and pianist, Mwalim performed at Carnegie Hall before the age of 14 and by 16 was one the youngest studio session players in EMI history. He is the author of the novel LAND of the BLACK SQUIRRELS (202 Thirty-three Pages), short story collection A MIXED MEDICINE BAG (2007, Talking Drum Press), as well as numerous plays and solo performance works that have been presented throughout the USA and Canada as well as the UK and the Caribbean. He is a keyboard player and singer, as well as resident songwriter for the multi-Grammy nominated soul-funk band, The GroovaLottos and CEO of Polyphonic Studios in Bourne, MA. Mwalim is a recipient of numerous awards and grants, including: a three-time winner of the New England Urban Music Award for jazz, 4-time recipient of the Ira Aldridge Fellowship for theater, the Osborne Fellowship and Healy Grant for media, and is currently a tenured professor of English, Communications, and Black
Studies at UMass Dartmouth.