Hurt, Leopold

Born in 1979 in Regensburg, Germany, he studied composition with Manfred Stahnke at the Academy of Music in Hamburg and zither / historical informed performance at the Richard Strauss Conservatoire in Munich.

His work includes the full range of instrumental and vocal music, with a prominent use of the zither, which can be heard in several of his compositions, especially in combination with electronics. As an instrumentalist, he has played with several symphony orchestras of the German Broadcasting Corporation, Orchestra di Roma, and Hamburg Philharmonic. On behalf of the Goethe Institute, he has made several concert tours to China, Ireland, and Lebanon.

Leopold Hurt has received several awards for his work, including the Stuttgart Composition Prize and the Bach Prize Scholarship of the City of Hamburg. As a fellow of the State of Bavaria, he resided 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. In 2014, a portrait CD with his works was published by WERGO / Contemporary Music Series.

Selected works: Aggregat for cello, bass zither and electronics (2005), 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 for large ensemble (2009), Broken Consort III - Schwebendes Verfahren for ensemble (2009), Seismographien for six voices and 17 strings (2009), Ausreisser for clarinet, double bass, piano, percussion and recorded sounds (2010), Sechs Buxtehude­Bearbeitungen (2010), Fred Ott's Sneeze for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion and recorded sounds (2011), Seuring | Schalter for e-zither and large orchestra (2011-12), Dead Reckoning for 12 strings (2012), Reality Check for violin, zither and recorded sounds (2013), Gatter for e-zither and large ensemble (2014), five minutes or less for ensemble and tape (2015), Munich Machine, 20something for large ensemble (2016), Skedaddle for ensemble and tape (2016).