born in 1979 in Regensburg, Germany he studied the zither with Georg Glasl, viola da gamba and historically informed performance with Hartwig Groth and Michael Eberth at the Richard Strauss Conservatoire in Munich, where he also received his first lessons in composition with Peter Kiesewetter. He continued his composition studies with Manfred Stahnke at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg. He participated in masterclasses taught by Dieter Schnebel, Paul-Heinz Dittrich, Brian Ferneyhough (composition) and Nigel North (early music), and attended classes in electronic music at IRCAM in Paris.
Leopold Hurt’s oeuvre encompasses a wide range of instrumental and vocal genres, and is characterised by a prominent use of the zither, which can be found in many of his compositions. A number of his works reflect his interest in historical sound documents of traditional folk music. He also uses electronics and multimedia. As an instrumentalist, Leopold Hurt has performed notably with the symphony orchestras of the Bavarian Radio, WDR, NDR, Orchestra di Roma, and the Hamburg Philharmonic. He also appears as a conductor and contributes in many ways to integrating the zither in the contemporary music scene, notably by collaborating with the Teichmann Bros. DJ duo in Berlin. On behalf of the Goethe Institute, he repeatedly toured China, Ireland, and Lebanon.
He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gustav Mahler Composition Prize in Klagenfurt (2008), Stuttgart Composition Prize (2010), and Bach Prize Scholarship of the City of Hamburg (2011). As a fellow of the State of Bavaria, he resided and worked in 2003–4 at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and in 2009–10 at the Villa Concordia International House of Arts in Bamberg. He lives and works in Hamburg.

Major works: Treibgut for violin, zither and guitar (1999), Stele for zither (2000–7), Anna Livia Plurabelle, music theatre for mezzo-soprano, countertenor, bass flute, bass clarinet, cello, bass zither, percussion and recorded sounds, after James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (2001), Broken Consort II – Enigma for tenor, baroque trombone, chitarrone, positive organ and tape (2003), Icarus in Augsburg for piano, reciting voice ad libitum and electronics (2004; version for disklavier and electronics, 2006), vor Geiger, electroacoustic music (2004), über Dörfer, electroacoustic music (2004), Aggregat for cello, bass zither and electronics (2005), Carmen, an abbreviated reworking of Bizet’s opera for solo voices and ensemble (2006), Hiatus for alto flute and recorded sounds (2006), 3 Schriftstücke, electroacoustic music (2006), Logbuch (Hommage à K.V.) for zither (2007), Erratischer Block for violin, saxophone, piano, percussion, zither and electronics (2007), August Frommers Dinge for string trio (2008), Tunnel for piano trio (2008), Pidgin (Erratischer Block II) for zither and 13 instrumentalists (2008), Medea, music theatre for female singer, five actors and 11 instrumentalists after Christa Wolf (2008), Flex (2009), Broken Consort III – Schwebendes Verfahren (2009), The Harpsdischord I for harp (2009), Seismographien for six voices and 17 strings (2009), Ausreisser for clarinet, double bass, piano, percussion and recorded sounds (2010), Sechs Buxtehude-Bearbeitungen (2010), Wellenbrecher for zither (2011), Ballade von dem Puff, das Freiheit heisst for baritone, trombone, accordion and guitar (2011), Fred Ott’s Sneeze for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion and recorded sounds (2011), Seuring | Schalter (2011–12), Der Minuten-Zwiefache for zither (2012), Dead Reckoning (2012), Reality Check for violin, zither and recorded sounds (2013), Gate for e-zither and large ensemble (2014).