The Hurd Ensemble

Switchboard expands beyond its yearly festival with the addition of Switchboard Presents. On the third Friday of every month, the Switchboard Presents concert series features split bills drawn from a roster of Switchboard alumni, 2014 Festival artists, and other acts who fall between musical lines.Nonsemble: http://www.nonsemble6.com/Hurd Ensemble: http://www.hurdensemble.com/$15 General, $10 MembersPerforming original music by San Francisco-based composer George Hurd, The Hurd Ensemble unifies the worlds of electronic and classical music. All the music is written for string quartet (violin, viola, cello, upright bass), piano and electronics, meticulously bound together with digitally-arranged sounds collected from Hurd's travels. Absolutely no stock electronic sounds are used - every sound produced is of his own creation, recorded, edited and manipulated himself. The electronics are layered to create textures that perfectly complement the acoustic instruments, giving rise to a sound that is extremely organic despite its partially digital origins. Hurd's music is both wildly, intricately rhythmic and aglow with shimmering harmonies and melodies. Accessible and daring, its percussive yet lyrical qualities make it at home in both concert halls and nightclubs.Nonsemble 6 formed in San Francisco in Fall 2009 as members of the San Francisco Conservatory’s prestigious Chamber Music program. The group formed in order to perform Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, and staying true to the work’s origins as cabaret, early performances as an ensemble were in Bay Area cafes and bars as part of the Classical Revolution. A tour of Oregon to perform and lecture at Willamette University and in Astoria followed, as well as performances in Baltimore, MD, a Kennedy Center debut, and in summer 2010 Nonsemble 6 were artists in residence at the Astoria (Oregon) summer music festival. As part of the vision to collaborate with other art forms, a set of 21 works of abstract art to accompany the performances of Pierrot Lunaire was commissioned. This collaboration continues with the commissioning of a series of works by Bay Area artist Olivia Lam to accompany this spring's performances of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. This season's appearances have included concerts at the California Academy of Sciences with composer Mason Bates, a world premiere of Mark Ackerley's new work "The Little Matchstick Girl" at the San Francisco Conservatory, and educational presentations during which 3rd graders compose their own expressionist melodramas. Nonsemble 6 is a fiscally sponsored affiliate of the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.