“The piece actually began as a piece for solo electric guitar,” Hurst said.
He wrote the original piece for his master’s recital, Hurst said, and he used a nontraditional method of playing the electric guitar, which involved placing the instrument on a table and striking the strings like a percussion instrument.
In 2014, Hurst completed an orchestral version of the piece, which is the version that will be performed on Wednesday.
The Concert Orchestra in the Jacobs School of Music will perform at 8 p.m. at the Musical Arts Center. The concert features guest conductor Daniel Boico.
Hurst, an associate instructor in composition, is pursuing his doctorate at the music school.
“Still Lives,” featured in the concert, won the 2015 Indiana University Dean’s Prize in Composition in the orchestral category. The concert also features Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture to ‘Candide’ (1956)” and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 (1907).”
Hurst said his composition involves extended techniques for the orchestra, such as the string instruments playing the highest notes possible. After listening to the original piece, Hurst said he split up the individual sounds of the electric guitar and assigned them to different people in the orchestra.
Boico said he likes the vibrant sound of Hurst’s composition.
“What I like most is how colorful it is,” Boico said. “He really tries to use the orchestral pallet to show different soundscapes.”
Boico said Hurst’s work is inventive because of the transformation of music originally meant for the electrical guitar into an orchestral piece.
“You have to be really innovative and think outside the box to bring out the different sounds and colors that the electrical guitar would produce while using classical instruments,” Boico said.
Hurst said he is looking forward to the entire program, including the pieces by Bernstein and Rachmaninoff, because it will be fiery and full of energy.
“It’s a really great program in general,” Hurst said.
Boico said the opening Bernstein piece is a fun ride because it is both difficult and energetic. He said the Rachmaninoff piece is a giant symphony that lasts for almost an hour and includes romantic tunes, harmony and driving rhythms.
“Every movement brings the Rachmaninoff that we all love so much,” Boico said.
Boico said the students in the Concert Orchestra are fantastic.
“They all come from different backgrounds, but they all are on a really high level musically and technically,” Boico said.
Hurst said the orchestra sounds great, and he said he is pleased with Boico’s work with his composition.
“It’s a privilege to have somebody who is getting details in your work and getting the orchestra to respond to very specific details in the music,” Hurst said. “It’s a luxury, and I can’t thank him enough.”
