Biography

Ori Zur is an Israeli-American composer and multi-instrumentalist. Born in Los Angeles, CA, Zur discovered his passion of music at a very early age. He began playing the piano at age 3, and while his main focus was playing classical pieces, Zur also very much enjoyed learning how to play pop songs by ear. He used this skill throughout his elementary school years by learning all of the melodies of his Jewish school's services and accompanying the cantor every Friday afternoon.

Zur began playing cello when he was 8 years old. His dad wanted him to learn an instrument that would allow him to play in an orchestra. Zur began playing in an after-school club orchestra a year later, which taught him the basic skills of playing in a musical ensemble. He would continue to play cello in middle school, high school, and even professional ensembles.

In middle school, Ori also joined his school's jazz band. While transitioning from classical piano to jazz piano was difficult at first, Ori eventually fell in love with the jazz genre and over the years became more and more comfortable with pushing his boundaries of harmony and rhythm. Zur never lost his passion for classical music, and he continues to learn new classical piano pieces on his own to this day.

Zur's composition career began in his junior year of high school. He was assigned by his school's play director to write and direct music for the school's winter play. This experience taught Zur many valuable skills including how to lead and teach new music to an ensemble of fellow students, how to collaborate with the actors on stage, and how to write melodies that are both appropriate to the current scene of the play and simple enough that it would be memoroble for the audience.

The success of the winter play opened the door for other opportunities to contribute to his school's performing arts department. Zur composed a few short songs for his school's annual Playwrights Festival, participated in pit orchestras for school musicals, and provided piano accompaniment for his school's comedy improv troupe, "The Scenemonkeys."

This was also the time when Zur began composing classical music for the first time. He wrote multiple pieces for a variety of instruments. At the end of his senior year, Zur was given the opportunity to conduct his school's symphony orchestra as they played one of his original pieces, titled "Ode to Peace." He was also able to perform an original jazz big band arrangement with his school's top jazz band at his final concert.

As a student at Northwestern University, Zur continues to pursue his passion of composition, writing classical chamber music and also writing film scores for students in the Radio, TV, and Film department. Zur also continues to play cello in school orchestras, and even joined Northwestern's Jewish a Cappella group as a bass singer and vocal percussionist.

Zur is also pursuing a degree in computer science at Northwestern University. He hopes that learning fundemental coding skills and studying the inner workings of a computer will be advantageous as he learns about the intersection of technology and modern electronic and computer generated music.