Music « drewschnurr.com

Drew Schnurr is a composer, sound artist, and performer from Los Angeles whose work blurs traditional lines in music, media, and sound.

As a composer for media, Drew has produced music and sonic branding for numerous world brands and media conglomerates. He is also an active concert composer and sound artist with a diverse range of international commissions and exhibits.

Revered by his peers, industry professionals, and critics, his work has been called both “rare” and “remarkable.”

“This composer bends and stretches rules within his own aesthetic, weaving his musical ideas in harmonious waves that threaten to drown, yet gently tumble the listener forward with intrigue and anticipation.” -Adam Rosenthal review for Persee: Orchestrated Perception

VISUAL MEDIA PORTFOLIO
CONCERT PORTFOLIO
BIO

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Hyperventilations

for Piano with Four Hands [cat. sc26]

Hyperventilations of a Fire Dragon harnesses music from my early career as a performer in latin bands, jazz ensembles, funk bands, and rock and metal bands. The underlying fervency of these influences is felt throughout the work, leveraged by the power and agility of the piano, driving the performance often to the edge of playability. This piece initiates a compositional renaissance, a drilling down into the musical cores of “fire” that constitute the music of my youth. It comes from the gut—quite literally, was breathed into life. The melodic and rhythmic motives are all derived from vocal inflections (and hyperventilations) improvised, recorded, transcribed and re-composed by the composer.

DREW SCHNURR (2015)

Premiered by Vicki Ray and Aaron Kallay — Hear Now Festival, Los Angeles, May 2015.
Video performance by pianists Kookhee Hong and Minji Noh.

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watch HYPERVENTILATIONS

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Four String Gambits Recording

02/12/14

Four String Gambits for string quartet recorded at Allegro Recordings in Burbank, January 27, 2013.

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CONFESSIONS U.S. PREMIERE

04/26/12

CONFESSIONS OF AN ECO-TERRORIST, an environmental documentary produced and directed by Peter Brown with music by Drew Schnurr, premiered in the U.S. on Hulu, iTunes, Amazon VOD, and Cable Video-On-Demand on Earth Day, April 22.

http://confessionsfilm.com/

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DODGE “ROCK N’ ROLL” MARATHON

02/02/11

Dodge was a sponsor for the LA half marathon in the Fall of 2010. This video features their campaign highlighting local bands “Rocking Out” for the marathon runners. The spot includes interviews by Roger Craig, Jennifer Love Hewiit, James Remar, and Dodge CEO Ralph Gilles. Music composed by Drew Schnurr.

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IN MEDIAS RES

11/30/10

My friend Phil O’Connor asked me some months ago to compose a clarinet piece for him. I’m very excited to be writing this piece for Phil. The work in progress is a trio for bass clarinet, cello, and electric guitar. It is called IN MEDIAS RES.

The composition is inspired by five sculptures by Rodin. I have really been getting into Rodin lately. I love the movement in his work. It may seem strange for me to use the word movement to describe statues, but it think it applies. His statues seem alive to me – reaching, breathing, groaning…suspended in life. This idea inspired the title for the piece, which is a Latin expression meaning “…into the middle of things.” The phrase in medius res denotes a Greek literary technique where a dramatic tale is told starting not from the beginning, but rather from the middle or end of a story.

Two movements are finished: Burghers of Claias and Danaid (see images). I hope to have the piece finished soon. The composition will be premiered this Summer in Los Angeles at the International Clarinet Associaltion’s ClarinetFest.

http://www.clarinet.org/

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