A highly inventive pianist, composer, and educator Kirk Nurock is a Juilliard-trained performer whose music touches upon such varied styles as post-bop jazz, classical composition, and avant-garde choral music. Born in Camden, New Jersey in 1948, Nurock was a prodigy and by his teens was already a gifted performer. At age sixteen, he became the first student awarded the Duke Ellington scholarship from the Eastman School of Music; receiving the award from Ellington himself at the ceremony. After high school, he earned his Master's degree in Composition from Juilliard, where he studied with Vincent Persichetti, Luciano Berio, Manny Albam, and others. While still in college, Nurock found work around New York and in the Catskills playing with such luminaries as Chet Baker, Phil Woods, Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Billy Eckstine, and more.

As a solo artist, he debuted in 1976 with Nurock, which showcased his adept jazz chops. However, he dedicated much of the '70s to working with his Natural Sound Workshop, a 25-member chorus that performed the pianist's experimental, layered compositions utilizing unconventional vocalizations including shouts, moans, and gibberish. He then expanded his approach to compositions for "cross-species communication," including such works as 1980's "The Bronx Zoo Events," 1983's "Sonata for Piano and Dog," and 1984's "Expedition for Siberian Husky and Jazz Trio." Also during this period, Nurock worked often in the theater and for live events, supplying scores for Broadway productions by Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, and Galt MacDermot, as well as pop orchestral concerts by James Taylor, Judy Collins, Bette Midler, and others.

During the '90s, Nurock returned to the studio, pairing with vocalist Theo Bleckmann for 1992's Theo Kirk, and 1995's Looking Glass River. In 1998, he delivered the intimate trio effort, Remember Tree Friends, with bassist Harvie Swartz and drummer Bobby Previte. Also during these years, he began teaching, first spending time in Germany where he worked as a professor at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. He then returned to New York, eventually joining the faculty at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

When not teaching, Nurock remains an in-demand arranger and performer often appearing in a solo format. He showcased this aspect of his playing on 2001's Still at Sea. His songs have been covered by a bevy of performers including Judy Niemack, Tom Briggs, and Yaron Gershovsky. Nurock also supplied arrangements for Janis Siegel's 2002 effort I Wish You Love. In 2017, he collaborated with longtime associate vocalist Jay Clayton on Unraveling Emily, a collection of songs inspired by the work of poet Emily Dickinson. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi