Winner of the 2008 Rodolfo Halffter Instrumenta Ibero-American Composition Prize, José Luis Hurtado is one of the most important figures of a new generation of Mexican composers. His music has been performed in Asia, Europe, Canada, USA, and Latin America by ensembles and soloists such as The Boston Modern Orchestra Project BMOP, The International Contemporary Ensemble ICE, The Seattle Contemporary Chamber Players, Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble Wien, Tony Arnold and The Arditti Quartet among many others.
He has been the recipient of Kompositionspreis der Stadt Wolkersdorf (Austria), The Harvard University Green Prize for Excellence in Composition (USA), The Adelbert W. Sprague Prize (USA), The George Arthur Knight Prize (USA), The Julián Carrillo Composition Prize (Mexico), El Premio Estatal de Composición del Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánea de Michoacán (Mexico), and 2nd prize in the Troisieme Concours International de composition du Quatuor Molinari (Canada).
Hurtado holds degrees in piano performance and composition from Conservatorio de las Rosas (Morelia, Mexico), a Master of Music in Composition from Universidad Veracruzana (Xalapa, Mexico) and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University where he has studied under Mario Davidovsky, Harrison Birtwistle, Chaya Czernowin, Magnus Lindberg, Brian Ferneyhough and Helmut Lachenmann.