Composer Derek Hurst is an artist writing acoustic and electroacoustic concert music. Composing in a modern mixture of traditional and contemporary art-music aesthetics, his work exhibits a balance between visceral solemnity and muscular jocularity, mixed with timbral subtlety. Both his acoustic and electronic works have been performed throughout the United States and abroad by ensembles and prominent soloists, such as: Boston Modern Orchestra Project, String Noise, Left Coast Ensemble, Ensemble Pamplemousse, Interensemble,  Brave New Works, Ecce Ensemble, Ian Pace, Winston Choi, Orlando Cela, Geoffrey Burleson, Ashleigh Gordon, Sarah Brady and Firebird Ensemble. With works featured on concert events of: League-ISCM, SEAMUS, ICMC, Boston Cyberarts and the ComputerArts Festival (Padova, It). Mr. Hurst and his creative work has received several awards, honors and distinctions including: Fromm Foundation Commission, Jebediah Foundation Commission for new Music, two Artist’s Fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Wayne Peterson Prize, and awards and fellowships from the Wellesley Composer’s Conference (2), Sacher Grant for Study Abroad, The Copland House Residency and the Irving Fine Fellowship for Music Composition. As a new music advocate he also has developed, directed and curated numerous concerts of new acoustic and electroacoustic music and was the lead Cohost for SEAMUS’ 2019 National Conference.

Derek is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and currently teaches courses in electronic music, theory, counterpoint, composition, contemporary music history at Berklee College and Boston Conservatory. He was Visiting Associate Professor at Brandeis University for the Fall, 2016 semester, and Boston Conservatory for the 2016-17 academic year. He has additional past visiting appointments at Brown University, Brandeis University, Wheaton College, Central Connecticut University and Northeastern University. He has degrees in composition / theory classical, guitar performance and teaching, earned his PhD in Composition / Theory from Brandeis University in 2007. Major teachers include David Rakowski, Eric Chasalow, Martin Boykan, Yehudi Wyner and John Melby. His dissertation on Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto (op. 42) is now published by Verlag, D.M.