Amy Wurtz

Description

Artist photo by Alain Milotti.

A fervent advocate for new music and the community that surrounds and supports it, Amy Wurtz is a vibrant performer, composer, and curator of new music.
 
Her recent album, Cello Dances at Night, with the Wurtz-Berger Duo, a cello-piano collaboration with Alyson Berger, features Amy’s work Songs and Dances which was commissioned by the 2016 Ear Taxi Festival. Originally from California, Amy has lived and worked in the Bay Area, Southern California, throughout the Midwest, South America and Europe. In addition to composing and curation, she is in demand as a solo pianist, chamber and choral musician, teacher, and collaborative pianist.
 
Amy performs regularly with the Wurtz-Berger Duo, Access Contemporary Music, the Calumet Chamber Musicians, and as President of New Music Chicago, is an active force in the new music community.  She curates New Music at the Green Mill and the Impromptu Fest, and performs regularly at the Thirsty Ears Festival and the Sound of Silent Film Festival in Chicago.

Work Sample

Starts at 07:57
Livestream solo piano recital, given during the height of the pandemic/lockdown from my living room.  This recital showcases my broad reach in programming and also my work as a composer.

Program is just over one hour and repertoire includes:
Harry T. Burleigh: From the Southland (1907) I. Through Moanin' Pines
Martin Bresnick: Ishi's Song (2015)
Florence B. Price: Dances in the Canebreaks (1953) 9. Silk Hat and Walking Cane
William Jason Raynovich:  Chicago Air (2010)
Amy Wurtz:  I Can't Breathe (2010)
Hannibal: John Brown and Blue (1999)
Harry T. Burleigh:  From the Southland (1907) VI. A New Hiding Place

Starts at 02:57
Livestream solo recital from my home, this time with improved equipment.  Sixty-minute program once again shows a broad range in selections, encompassing both new and old selections and once again shows my work as a composer/performer. 

Program:
Frederic Chopin:  Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45
Nailah Nombeko:  Water Lilies
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor:  Let us Cheer the Weary Traveler
Zibuokle Martinaitye:  Impulses
Michael Nyman:  Big My Secret
Amy Wurtz:  #2 (World Premiere)
Johannes Brahms:  Ballade Op. 10, No. 4 in B minor
Florence B. Price:  Nimble Feet

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18edQfypQn05REr_2d68BQJb0QgnOAvlP/view?usp=sharing

This is a film score written and also performed by my as part of the Palomar Ensemble of Access Contemporary Music (ACM).  You will not see me or any of the other performers in this video but we are performing live at the Music Box Theater as part of the Sound of Silent Film  Festival which happened on April 16, 2022.  I'm including this work sample as it is a score composed entirely by me, which I am also participating as a performer, and, as this piece was a commission from ACM, it serves as an example of what I might write as a commissioned composer of a piece of music. Thank you for watching!

The first two work samples show me at work as a solo pianist, and each incorporates one of my original compositions for solo piano.  For each solo program I have done, I have striven to created a broad, far-ranging program, representing music from centuries past which has spoken to me as well as composers alive and at work today.  Most notably I prefer to play pieces that are grounded in a solid musical foundation which speak to me emotionally, so that I can then communicate that emotion with my audience. 

The third work sample is the most recent of my compositions and is a good representation of how I write for mixed ensemble.  It was a joy to write and later perform that piece, as it was a direct commission from the presenting organization, ACM.  I have received various commissions in the past, most recently from the American Music Project for my String Quartet No. 3, to be premiered on June 5, 2022 by the Kontras Quartet.

History

I am a composer and pianist, previously based in California, Argentina and Germany, now living and working in Chicago for over 13 years.  I perform as a soloist and also as a chamber musician with such ensembles as Palomar, the Wurtz-Berger Duo, and the Chicago Composers’ Orchestra.  I also work as an accompanist for the Sounds Good and Good Memories choirs, as well as various high school choirs in the Chicago Public School District. 

I have performed around the globe and across the United States.  As a composer, I often program pieces of my own and also of my contemporaries.  I have deep ties to Chicago’s new music scene, having been on the board and also past President of New Music Chicago.  I also work curating and otherwise administrating music festivals such as Impromptu Fest, New Music at the Green Mill, Ear Taxi Festival and the Nevermore Chamber Music Festival.

Artistic Vision

The artistic vision of my work is based on expressivity, creativity, the addition of more beauty to the world, giving voice to emotions, experiences, individuals and thoughts not yet documented, exploration of the inner worlds we all carry within us, and pure musical enjoyment.  I write passionate, expansive works most often based on an emotional theme, image or concept.  My creative voice is based in contrapuntal and harmonic traditions, yet extends into today’s world of unlimited creativity and invention, often incorporating improvisation, extended techniques and innovative forms.  I am most comfortable writing chamber music for mixed ensemble, though I also write plenty of vocal music, works for solo piano, and orchestral scores. 

As a pianist, I strive to communicate to my audience the pure beauty and joy of the music I play.  Music has always occupied the highest position of creativity and bliss in my life and if I can communicate some of that to my listeners, I am happy.

Programs for Specific Audience(s) Expertise

I would not say I have any specific audiences, however, I would note that my listeners have always expressed to me how much they appreciate the broad variety of music I program in my concerts and passion with which it is all presented.