Dr. Hurley Knapps’s music, described as vibrant, magical and otherworldly, encompasses the diverse genres of opera, chamber, choral, film and theatre underscore, songs and ambient music. Commissioned by the Sage City Symphony, the New Calliope Singers and numerous individual artists, her chamber opera “Anaïs” was performed by the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York on their Atelier Series. Her song cycle “Wind River Songs” was released on CRI; the choral work “Vermont Poems” is on the Finnadar label. An advocate against noise pollution, Hurley’s ambient “Soft Sounds” improvisations for clavichord are available on iTunes.  Her commercial credits include “Here Dies Another Day” starring John Randolph, “The Organ Grinder” starring Tom Jane, “The Last Stand,” narrated by Ed Asner, the audio book of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” for KCRW narrated by Harry Shearer, incidental theatrical music and songs for “The Tempest,” “Trojan Women” and “Oedipus” for the Classical Theater of Oregon. Her current projects include a full-length opera, songs and collaborative ambient music. 

Steeped exclusively in classical music throughout her childhood, Hurley Knapp was raised in Vermont. Her formal training began with piano at age six. Later, her musical education included oboe with Ralph Gomberg, voice in Paris with Paul Derenne, classes with Nadia Boulanger, composition with Lewis Spratlan, with Samuel Adler at Eastman while earning her master’s degree and with Fred Fox at Indiana University where she took her doctorate in composition. She has served as resident composer at Lawrence University and the Atlantic Center for the Arts and has taught composition at Indiana University and the Interlochen Center for the Arts.