To Eric Hirsh, music is about expressing the sounds of the world, with all its daily rhythms, joys, and sorrows. It is both a catalyst and a means for communication and communion, for dancing, for shaking people out of their comfort zone. Hirsh is at home in an impressive array of roles and genres, but his art, whether an improvised salsa solo or a classical song cycle, is characterized by both a soaring energy and a touching sense of reflection.

The son of two conservatory trained musicians, Hirsh began playing piano at age 6 in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri and developed early interests in jazz and synthesizers. Hirsh obtained his Bachelor of Arts in both Music and Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied piano and composition with Stephen Anderson, Ed Paolantonio, and Thomas Otten. He became an active student leader in the jazz program and is a three-time winner of the ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composers Award for pieces he wrote during his undergraduate tenure. As a founding member of Charanga Carolina, a Cuban danzón ensemble directed by UNC professor and ethnomusicologist David Garcia, Hirsh discovered a forum through which he could deepen his knowledge and share his passion for Afro-Cuban music.

Hirsh has now established himself as a performer, composer, and technologist in Durham, NC. He is the co-director, arranger, and pianist for Orquesta GarDel, a 13-piece all-star salsa band whose performances and unique sound have garnered cover-story attention from the Independent Weekly. He is also the keyboardist for The Beast, a jazz/hip hop collective fronted by emcee/spoken word artist Pierce Freelon. Hirsh has been honored to participate as a pianist and composer in residence at The Kennedy Center for their 2009 Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program.