Kurt Schwertsik (born 25 June 1935) is an Austrian contemporary composer.  Schwertsik was born in Vienna. A pupil of Joseph Marx and Karl Schiske at the Academy of Music, he later studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne and Darmstadt. In 1958 he founded the ensemble "die reihe" with fellow composer and conductor Friedrich Cerha (famous for finishing the opera Lulu, by Alban Berg) and later, in 1968, the ensemble "MOB art & tone ART" with Otto Matthäus Zykan and Heinz Karl Gruber. He served as hornist of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (from 1968) while teaching Composition at the Konservatorium Wien (from 1979). Between 1989 and 2004 he was Professor of Composition at the Vienna Musikhochschule (Academy of Music, when he was studying there, now called University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna). His works are characterised by his particular exploration of tonality and his musical irony and humour. He received the Grand Austrian State Prize (1992), the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (1997) and numerous other awards.