Michael Hearst, whose composition Secret World premiered at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 28. It was performed by the Kronos Quartet, along with Hearst and more than 50 audience members. The New York Times said about the piece, “It seemed a perfect ending to the concert: an encore would have been anticlimactic.”
Hearst is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and writer. His musical instruments include claviola, theremin, guitar, piano, drums, and bass. He earned a degree in music composition from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1995, where he studied under Dika Newlin. Hearst is a founding member of the eclectic musical group One Ring Zero, which started in Richmond in 1997 and relocated to Brooklyn in 2001. The group has released multiple albums since its formation, including As Smart As We Are and the book/cd The Recipe Project, which is a collection of recipes set to music and sung word for word in the musical style suggested by the chefs.
Hearst has also released a number of individual albums including the popular Songs for Ice Cream Trucks and the forthcoming children’s book/CD Songs for Unusual Creatures.
Hearst grew up in Virginia Beach, is the son of Jean Hearst and Dan Graf of Virginia Beach and Earl D. Hearst of Florida.