Bassist Jeremy Kurtz-Harris holds the Sophie and Arthur Brody Foundation Principal Bass Chair of the San Diego Symphony. Mr. Kurtz-Harris has a diverse musical background that includes solo, chamber and orchestral performance. He is the winner of numerous competitions, including the 1997 International Society of Bassists solo competition, and has been the principal bassist of the San Diego Symphony since 2004.
His recital experience is extensive, including solo appearances in Houston, Memphis, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto, as well as appearances at several International Society of Bassists conventions and “Bass 2008” in Paris. He performed Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison’s Bass Concerto with the San Diego Symphony in March 2007 as one of fifteen bassists participating in the coast-to-coast premiere of the piece, and has also appeared as soloist with New Jersey’s Riverside Symphonia and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
Mr. Kurtz-Harris has performed chamber music at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, La Jolla SummerFest, San Diego’s Art of Elan chamber music series, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. A graduate of the Curtis Institute and Rice University, his main teachers have been Harold Robinson and Timothy Pitts. His wide musical interests have also led him to study with such artists as jazz bassist John Clayton and classical/bluegrass bassistextraordinaire Edgar Meyer. In addition to his performing pursuits, Mr. Kurtz-Harris is on the Board of Directors of the International Society of Bassists, and is on the music faculty at San Diego State University and Idyllwild Arts Academy. His first solo CD, Sonatas and Meditations, was released in 2008 in partnership with Houston Classical Radio, KUHF. His website is www.jeremykurtzharris.com.