Kurt Rosenberg is a prolific composer and producer known for his original song “Highland Home.” Kurt was born in Roseburg, Oregon but moved to Portland at the age of 2.
Kurt’s love for music was first ignited by his parents; his mother would play the “My Fair Lady” soundtrack while preparing dinner and his father would always have classical music playing while they had supper. The “Oregonian” went to Pitzer College in Southern California after graduating high school, and later enrolled in the University of Bath’s Semester Abroad Program in England.
At age 12, Kurt taught himself how to play the piano, and started writing songs in high school. Around this time, he started to listen to Celtic Music from Scotland and Ireland. This growing exposure to Celtic Music was one of the reasons he wanted to go abroad to the University of Bath. He went on to live in Bath for an additional five months, and frequently traveled to Scotland. His love of Scotland inspired him to write “Highland Home,” calling it his “love letter to Scotland.”
“Highland Home is about longing to get back home, to return to a place that fulfills us and brings us joy. I hope that people, no matter where they are from, will feel the universal calling of a place called ‘home’.”
His music making process first starts with finding what he calls his “musical moment.” He will sit at his piano and just start to play. If he’s lucky, a new melody will stand out to him. He repeats it and repeats it until he has it memorized. He will then arrange the music and decide which particular instruments would best suit the melody. If he decides he wants to make the melody into a song, he will then start to develop the lyrics. This was his exact process when he made “Highland Home.”
Kurt’s love for music is more than just listening and creating it: “Each piece of my music conveys a different emotion, thought, or message. I want to compose melodies that touch people and are memorable. My dream is to hear folks singing, or humming, one of my songs after they’ve heard it in a movie or on TV. That would be so gratifying!”
“Highland Home” was recently made into a film, which Kurt produced, and was selected to screen, live, in countries from all around the globe. But, due to Covid-19, the film went to online screenings, and his team sadly missed out on the chance to see it screened live at these festivals. Kurt states that Covid-19 has been one of the biggest challenges in his career, along with dealing with skin cancer. “It is unpredictable and can sideline me from getting out to see/hear how my projects are faring with the public.”
Kurt’s career highlights include composing and producing the “Highland Home” film, which was selected by many prestigious film festivals. The film was selected by the Cleveland International Film Festival, The Oxford Short Film Festival, and by the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival. Kurt has also won a number of awards, including a Platinum Remi Award from World-Fest, a Director’s Choice Award at Santa Barbara’s International Fine Arts Film Festival, and the Best Music Video Award at Bath’s Jane Austen International Film Festival, and Best Lyrics Award at the International Music Video Awards (London, England).
Kurt hopes to become internationally known as an accomplished composer/film producer, especially in Britain and Ireland. His long-term goal is to become “the world’s leading composer/songwriter who is bringing melody back to music.”
Kurt is a Member of both Clan Scott Scotland and the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), and a Patron of Scottish Heritage USA. Future projects include refining the music and lyrics for his original musical “For the Lack of Laura,” and producing a music video for “The Moon Followed Me to Falmouth,” a song reminiscent of old sea shanties from the British Isles.