AMC 2000 Letters of Distinction: Robert Hurwitz

Robert Hurwitz is the President of Nonesuch Records and has headed the label since September 1984. From 1975 to 1984, he ran the American operations of ECM Records. His first (and only other job) in the record business was at Columbia (1972-74). He grew up in Los Angeles, where he was trained as a pianist; worked in his late teens at The Los Angeles Times; and graduated with a degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley. Hurwitz has lived in New York since 1971. Nonesuch Records, founded in 1964, pursues a broad mission, including classical music, contemporary music, jazz, traditional American and world music, musical theater and dance. Some of its flagship artists include the composers John Adams, Philip Glass, Henryk Gorecki, Adam Guettel and Steve Reich; performers Laurie Anderson, Richard Goode, the Kronos Quartet, Bill Frisell, Audra McDonald, Dawn Upshaw, Mandy Patinkin, the Buena Vista Social Club, Caetano Veloso and the Gipsy Kings. In recent years, the company has been involved with projects ranging from the historic recreations of George and Ira Gershwin's musicals (including the best-selling Gershwin Piano Rolls), to Teresa Stratas's Kurt Weill recordings; from Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares to Ken Burns's Civil War. In 1992, the label released Gorecki's Third Symphony with Dawn Upshaw-the highest selling record by a living concert composer in the history of the recording industry. In recent years, Nonesuch has enjoyed considerable successes with the Ry Cooder-produced Buena Vista Social Club, Gidon Kremer's Astor Piazzolla recordings and the first two recordings of Audra McDonald.