Kenneth Lurie joined the faculty of the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University in 1987, fifteen years after first playing a cello at the age of twenty. He earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A.), the Cleveland Institute of Music (M.M.), and Ithaca College (B.Mus.Ed.) where his cello teachers were Steven Doane, Alan Harris and Einar Holm. Lurie’s studies included summers at Kneisel Hall, Meadowmount, the Quartet Program, the International Course of Violoncello Paraiba Brazil, the Ithaca Violoncello Institute and the Berklee College of Music.

In addition to performing frequently with faculty colleagues, Lurie’s experience includes serving as assistant principal or principal cellist with the Caracas Philharmonic, Roanoke Symphony, Rochester Festival Orchestra, Shreveport Summer Music Festival and Western Piedmont Symphony. As soloist with orchestra, Lurie has performed concertos by Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Lalo, Saint-Saëns and Vivaldi.

At home in a wide range of musical styles, Lurie has performed as guitarist with blues legends Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi Fred McDowell, led the High Country Klezmer Ensemble for seven years playing mandola, toured the Southeast playing 6-string MIDI cello in a trio with horn and synthesizer, and recorded two CDs of traditional Appalachian music with the Appalachian Acoustic Ensemble.

Among his recent non-traditional cello performances has been an improvised concert with violinist Stephen Nachmanovich, author of “Free Play - Improvisation in Life and Art.” A singer/songwriter, Lurie has performed at the Watauga Arts Council’s Summer Concerts on the Lawn and the Harper School Concert Series in Lenoir. Prior to joining the faculty at ASU, Lurie held academic appointments at Shenandoah Conservatory, Roanoke College and the Caracas Conservatory. His students have gone on to a variety of careers including positions as public school teachers, college professors, chamber musicians and symphony orchestra cellists.