The Hurd Ensemble Set for NYC's Spectrum and D.C.'s Kennedy Center

George Hurd and The Hurd Ensemble are coming to New York and D.C., seamlessly blending percussive, kaleidoscopic electronics with evocative, traditionally-
composed classical music. They will perform at Spectrum in NYC on Sat.
July 23rd, leading up to their Mon. July 25th show at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. The only event taking place at Spectrum in July, they will be playing music from Hurd's album Navigation Without Numbers (Innova, 2016) which has received national and international praise for its adventurous, genre-bending take on classical composition, including multiple features on WNYC's New Sounds, Q2/WFMT, All About Jazz and BBC Radio 3.

Hurd is coming to the Millennium Stage by special request of celebrated Kennedy Center composer-in-residence Mason Bates. "George and I share a passion for electro- acoustic classical music," said Bates, a fellow Bay Area composer whose Stereo Is King came out on Innova in 2014. "I have very much enjoyed the powerful and unique works he has created with his own ensemble. These pieces integrate electronic sounds and classical instruments in creative and visceral ways."

Opening the show at Spectrum will be Kills to Kisses - solo bass/vocal/electronics act by Australian double-bass pioneer Lisa Dowling (Concert Black). Praised as "Bjork-like" and "innovative" by The New York Times, Lisa has been an influential force in the NY post-classical scene for years. Hurd will be closing out the Spectrum show, performing electronics within his group, comprised of violin, cello, upright bass and piano. More information available at George Hurd's website: www.georgehurd.com.

SHOWS:

• Saturday, July 23rd - 8pm with Kills to Kisses Spectrum - 121 Ludlow St., 2nd Floor, NY, NY $15 sliding scale

• Monday, July 25th - 5:30 doors, 6pm show
Kennedy Center, Millennium Stage - 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC FREE

ABOUT GEORGE HURD

George Hurd is a San Francisco-based composer whose work focuses on chamber music, electronic music, and the fascinating world where they intersect. He heads The Hurd Ensemble, an electro- acoustic chamber group made up of some of the Bay Area's finest musicians, dedicated to performing his compositions for chamber ensemble and electronics. His work often fixates on the role of memory in music, using electronic sounds that are made entirely by him, recorded from his life and on his travels, each encapsulating a memory from the place and time they were recorded. He has composed well over a dozen electro-acoustic pieces for other groups and musicians, many acoustic chamber music pieces, and a sprawling catalog of works for solo electronics. His debut album with The Hurd Ensemble, Navigation Without Numbers, is out on Innova Recordings and includes a composition for violin and electronics written for and performed by acclaimed violinist/composer Carla Kihlstedt.

ABOUT THE HURD ENSEMBLE

Performing original music by composer George Hurd, The Hurd Ensemble unifies the worlds of electronic and classical music with their instrumentation of violin, cello, upright bass, piano and electronics (as well as regular use of viola, flute, bass clarinet, baritone sax, vibraphone and harp). Hurd's music is both wildly, intricately rhythmic and aglow with shimmering harmonies and melodies. The Hurd Ensemble is: Solenn Seguillon, violin; Anton Estaniel, cello; Ari Gorman, bass; Elyse Weakley, piano; George Hurd, electronics, composition.

Photo Credit: Matt Verdolivo