“refreshing and energetic…a very pleasurable departure from the standard repertoire”—American Record Guide
“…a superb classical guitarist who also embraces pop, folk, and jazz traditions.”–Acoustic Guitar Magazine
“Jurik is a player with technique, musicality, and excellent arranging chops…Each piece and, without exaggeration, every moment is well done and eminently enjoyable”–Soundboard
“…he uses the familiar bones of the piece (“Blackbird”) as jumping-off points for some really imaginative extrapolations that genuinely take the song to some new places. Bravo!”–Classical Guitar Magazine
“Andy Jurik's Strive redefines the boundaries of contemporary acoustic guitar… highly recommended for all fans of classical, jazz, and acoustic music.”–minor7th.com
Guitarist, arranger, and educator Andy Jurik actively explores the intersection of classical and popular music. His first recording, strive, is a multi-genre survey of works from Brazil (Ernesto Nazareth), France (Francis Poulenc), rock (The Beatles, Radiohead), and contemporary worlds (Ivan Trevino, Nicholas Walker). Demeler, his voice/guitar duo featuring vocalist Rachel Hansbury, reimagines Edith Piaf classics, Carter family standards, and timeless Celtic folk songs. Duo Cortado, his long-running duo with guitarist Devin Sherman, actively commissions new works to expand the scope of repertoire for guitar duo.
Andy’s research in classical/jazz fusion and contemporary improvisation results in activity on both the concert stage and the lecture hall. At the 2019 Dublin Guitar Symposium, Andy lectured about improvisation in historical and contemporary contexts. He presented his doctoral research on the classical guitar’s role in classical/jazz fusion of third stream music was presented at the 2017 Guitar Foundation of America convention in Fullerton, CA. Recent performances include the ASCAP-award winning Southern Exposure concert series, Brevard College, the Wired Music series, Carnegie Mellon University, the ArtFields Festival, the Austin Peay State University Guitarfest Presbyterian College, the Southern Guitar Festival, Radford University, and Clemson University.
Andy teaches at Western Carolina University and the University of North Carolina Asheville where he teaches guitar, aural skills, music theory, and ensembles dedicated to the music of Astor Piazzolla and Django Reinhardt. He holds degrees from the University of South Carolina (DMA, 2016), Austin Peay State University (M.M., 2012), and Ithaca College (B.M., 2008). Andy’s previous instructors include Christopher Berg, Stanley Yates, Pablo Cohen, and Steve Brown; he has also studied with Mark Stewart (Paul Simon, Bang on a Can All-Stars), Lorenzo Michelli and Matteo Mela (SoloDuo), Derek Gripper, and Ricardo Cobo.
His solo guitar arrangements of music by Ernesto Nazareth, Edward Elgar, and Welsh folk songs are published by Guitar Chamber Music Press (www.guitarchambermusicpress.com). Andy acts as co-director of the Asheville Classical Guitar Society, a collective that sponsors monthly open meetings, concerts, and masterclasses in the Western North Carolina area. His online critical writing for PopMatters and Spectrum Culture has been recognized by the Kronos Quartet, Nonesuch Records, New Amsterdam Records, and Innova Recordings.
Andy directs the Asheville Classical Guitar Society, where he has hosted concerts and masterclasses by Ana Vidovic, Adam Holzman, Nicola Cipriani and Brad Myrick, and Robert Trent.