Praised recently for “a rare style that fuse[s] precision and elegance with passionate intensity and successful risk-taking,” violinist/violist Miranda Cuckson’s playing has generated tremendous audience excitement and critical acclaim for decades. In the past few years, Cuckson has given concerto debuts at the Vienna Musikverein (playing Georg Friedrich Haas’ Violin Concerto No. 2, which she premiered in four countries), with John Adams at the Ojai Festival, and, with Christian Baldini, playing the Ligeti Violin Concerto, the recording of which was then released commercially to great praise.
Cuckson has been a featured artist internationally at festivals including Bard, Wien Modern, Le GuessWho?, West Cork, Frequency, Grafenegg, Sinus Ton, and TIME:SPANS, and by presenters such as Liquid Music, 92NY, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and the Cleveland Museum. In 2023, Cuckson and her frequent pianist partner Blair McMillen gave a recital at San Francisco Performances, and in 2025 they will perform at Boston’s Gardner Museum. Their recordings include the Grammy-nominated Songs and Structures; Michael Hersch’s the wreckage of flowers; and recordings of the music of major American composers including Elliott Carter, Jason Eckardt, Ralph Shapey, and Donald Martino. Cuckson’s solo albums include Világ, Melting the Darkness, and La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura, which was named a Recording of the Year by The New York Times.
Cuckson is a core member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*). She is the founder/director of the non-profit Nunc. She holds a doctorate from The Juilliard School, where she received the Presser Music Award. She is on faculty at the Mannes School of Music at The New School.
