Jerry Hunt

Jerry Edward Hunt (November 30, 1943 – November 27, 1993) was an American composer who created works using live electronics partly controlled by his ritualistic performance techniques which were influenced by his interest in the occult. He was considered a pioneer of live, electronic and computer-aided audio and video. Hunt lived his entire life in Texas, living in a house he built himself on his family’s ranchland. Hunt was often described as “hyperactive” and always on the move. and a relative of his was a Freemason. As a teenager, Hunt put ads in the local newspapers, offering mail-order instructions “in the path of the infinite.” When a Dallas couple visited and asked for “Master Jerry,” his parents became very concerned about his mental health. As a young adult, Hunt worked as a pianist for various nightclub acts in Texas. Work and artistic vision Jerry Hunt briefly taught at Southern Methodist University. Hunt rarely used traditional instruments in his work. He was a self-taught inventor of electrical and computer-aided musical devices. Hunt’s live performances were considered unique and honest by art-critics. Others have referred to his work as “wonderfully disorienting” bec