Larry Morton

Larry is a well-known and respected global music publishing executive. Over the past 30 years as President and CEO, he has led the growth of Hal Leonard Corporation to become the world’s largest music publishing company. He has worked in every aspect of the business including sales, marketing, product development, rights acquisition and digital media. He also led Hal Leonard’s global expansion, opening offices for the company in London, Amsterdam, Milan, Berlin, Melbourne and Shanghai.

Morton is a passionate advocate for the importance of music performance and music education. He has served on numerous national music association Boards, including as Board Chair of the prestigious NAMM organization.

Growing up in the St. Louis area, Larry began improvising and composing at the piano at five years old. Music became his singular obsession, spending his childhood performing piano, trumpet, guitar and singing. After earning his bachelor’s degree in music theory from Eastern Illinois University, he moved to Denton to study music composition in the graduate program at UNT. While studying with Martin Mailman, Larry had several of his concert works performed at UNT, including the world premiere of his chamber opera, "From the Mantlepiece." He also performed as a singer with the UNT Jazz Singers, under Paris Rutherford. Larry considers his two years at UNT grad school to be a critical factor in his growth as a musician and a business leader.

After leaving UNT and moving to Los Angeles to work as a studio musician and arranger, a chance meeting in a recording studio with the founder of Roland Corporation, Taro Kakehashi, gave Larry the opportunity to move into the business side of music, beginning with Roland, and then later at Hal Leonard Corporation. Larry feels extremely blessed to have a career in the life-changing field of music.

In addition to playing piano every day, Larry is an active Triathlete, having completed 30 triathlons, including a full Ironman, over the past ten years.

Following the December 2023 merger of Hal Leonard Corporation and Muse Group, Morton presently works as Chairman of Hal Leonard and a Board Director of Muse Group. He resides in Milwaukee.