IMAGINATION « 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
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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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IMAGINATION

09/20/10

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

Imagination is the means by which we create the horizon of possibilities. When hardship is experienced in life, one requires hope and will to carry on. Avoiding the surrender of despair requires the ability to envision a better life emancipated from hardship. Creative imagination is what allows the oppressed individual to reactivate lost possibilities; to see and move towards a better future.

I recently learned of 20th century writer Paul Ricoeur. He wrote extensively on imagination. He placed particular emphasis on creative imagination in the arts and it’s importance to society. It is the creative arts that inspires individuals to think anew, and to be open to the possibility of broader horizons and progress. The creative artist, in creating his or her work, is leading by example; not in terms of values or ideas, but rather in terms of mental process and discovering new possibilities.

There are many problems in society today that need solutions. We are in desperate need of creative thinking. We need the ability to see beyond our hardships and to create productive hopeful horizons. This occurs by activating imagination. Beethoven imagined the Ninth Symphony. Einstein imagined relativity. DaVinci imagined the Mona Lisa. These great works had to be conceived in the mind before being born to the world. And that conception required the courage to imagine. In creating, artists teach a valuable lesson, and not just about the aesthetic value of creative culture and beauty. We are inspired by bearing witness to creative thinking. Artists teach us how to manifest possibility and richness in our own lives, by imagining it.

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