Fuse: Music Residency 2027

Violinist/violist Miranda Cuckson delights audiences with her performances of music ranging from older eras to the newest creations. She has played innumerable concerts and premieres of new music and played a major role in bringing new creations more to the center of cultural life. Praised recently for “a rare style that fuse[s] precision and elegance with passionate intensity and successful risk-taking” [Berkshire Edge], she loves bringing musical experiences to venues large and small, from concert halls to casual spaces.  Engaging with many musical avenues (including those of Western classical traditions and American music), she has pursued a personal path motivated by sincere interest, innovation, and exploration, the expression of any human feelings and experiences, and the realization of virtuosity, craft, and invention.

Miranda premiered Georg Friedrich Haas’ Violin Concerto No. 2 in four countries and made her solo debut at the Vienna Musikverein with this piece in 2023, with the Vienna Radio Symphony and conductor Markus Poschner. The live recording was released in 2025 on the Urlicht AV label to great acclaim, as was her live performance of the Ligeti Violin Concerto with the UC Davis Orchestra, on Centaur Records.

She is a featured soloist at many festivals internationally, including Wien Modern, Grafenegg, Lincoln Center, Ojai, Le GuessWho, West Cork, Bard, Frequency, Time Spans, and Sinus Ton, and by such presenters as St. Paul’s Liquid Music, 92NY, Miller Theatre, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Library of Congress, and the Cleveland Museum. She recently gave recitals at San Francisco Performances, Boston’s Gardner Museum, and the Detroit Institute of Art.

Her current projects include new violin concertos by Jeffrey Mumford and Dongryul Lee; “Limin”,a concert-length duo by/with pianist Stewart Goodyear, to be released on Avie Records; a collaboration with harpist Parker Ramsay including a new duo by Haas; a work for solo violin and choir by Rene Hirschfeld; and upcoming solo performances at the Mito International Festival in Japan.

Her recordings include “Világ” featuring the Bartók Solo Sonata and folk-flavored compositions; the Korngold, Ponce, and Piston concertos; an ECM Records album of duos by Bartok, Schnittke, and Lutoslawski; the Grammy-nominated “Songs and Structures” by Harold Meltzer; Michael Hersch’s “the wreckage of flowers”; several albums of 20th-century American music; and “Melting the darkness”, a forward-looking compilation of microtonal/electronic music. Her album, with Christopher Burns, of Luigi Nono’s “La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura” was named a Recording of the Year by the New York Times.

Passionate about all the arts, Miranda is a core member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*), an interdisciplinary collective of dancers, singers, and instrumentalists that has been featured at the Lincoln Center and Ojai Festivals. She is the founder of non-profit Nunc, a programming and concert-producing organization.

Dedicated to education, Miranda teaches violin and chamber music at the Mannes School of Music/New School University. She frequently writes and speaks to audiences about music and she earned her doctorate from The Juilliard School.
 

Pianist Conor Hanick is regarded as one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old whose “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master.” (New York Times) Hanick has worked with conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ludovic Morlot, Alan Gilbert, and David Robertson; collaborated with the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Juilliard Orchestra; and been presented by the Gilmore Festival, New York Philharmonic, Elbphilharmonie, De Singel, Centre Pompidou, Cal Performances, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Park Avenue Armory, and the Ojai Festival, where in 2022 with AMOC* (American Modern Opera Company) he served as the festival’s artistic director and where in 2026 he’ll be a featured artist under director Esa-Pekka Salonen. 

A fierce advocate for the music of today, Hanick has premiered over 200 pieces and collaborated with composers ranging from Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, and Steve Reich, to the leading composers of his generation, including Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Marcos Balter, and Samuel Carl Adams, whose piano concerto, No Such Spring, he premiered in 2023 with Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony. This season Hanick presents solo and chamber recitals in the US, Europe, and Australia, including concerts presented by Cal Performances, the Phillips Collection, Galliard Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others. He appears with the Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and will be a resident artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in their Currents Festival.

Hanick is the director of Solo Piano at the Music Academy of the West and serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School, the CUNY Graduate Center, and Mannes College at The New School. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School and lives with his family in the Hudson Valley.

Adventure, interdisciplinarity and, above all, a critical engagement with today’s world — often through the use of new technologies — lie at the heart of the Nadar Ensemble’s guiding principles. The ensemble takes its name and spirit from Gaspard-Félix “Nadar” Tournachon (1820–1910), the celebrated photographer, caricaturist, spy and art critic. Nadar was also known for hosting informal “salons” that brought together artists, thinkers, writers and scientists. In addition, he was a famed balloonist: in 1864 he launched from Brussels in his balloon, ‘Le Géant’, a mass spectacle at the time and the origin of the name of the surrounding fences.

Our 21st century is pluralistic, multi- and transmedial, and increasingly inhabited by digital natives and a networked generation. That is why the Nadar Ensemble is not only fascinated by contemporary music but also by film, visual arts, performance, theatre, installation art and everything that these categories encompass – or perhaps not. In this way, it aims to anchor new music more firmly in today’s world by developing alternative concert formats. These can range from walks and living room concerts to compositions with construction cranes or hot air balloons. 

Nadar has performed at the Darmstadt International Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Ultima Oslo, Musica Strasbourg, Platforma Moscow, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Holland Festival, San Martin Buenos Aires, reMusik Saint Petersburg, Tampere Biennale, Wien Modern, Gogolfest Kiev, Cité de la musique Paris, Harvard University Boston, MaerzMusik Berlin, Warsaw Autumn, etc.

Nadar is an artist in residence at DE SINGEL Antwerp and also maintains strong ties withConcertgebouw Brugge, Muziekcentrum De Bijloke Gent, CC Sint-Niklaas and Transit Festival Leuven. Nadar is based in Sint-Niklaas, where it organises its annual Summer Academy. Incidentally, this city is also famous for its annual festival for... hot air balloons.

Watch a Video of Nadars work here

The Montreal-based quartet ARCHITEK PERCUSSION creates artistic experiences that entertain, captivate, and challenge audiences, often simultaneously. Founded in 2012 by members of McGill University’s Percussion Studio, Architek is equally comfortable performing classic quartet repertoire and exploring new terrain through commissions and premieres, often using instrument batteries that extend far beyond the traditional arsenal of instruments associated with percussion. Architek regularly performs in Montreal, having partnered with Codes d’Acces, Innovations en Concert, Le Vivier, Suoni per Il Popolo, Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the Pointe-a-Calliere Museum, and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT). In addition, the quartet has collaborated extensively with the Montreal Arts Council’s CAM En Tournée program, which presents free, accessible arts programming across the 19 boroughs and 15 independent municipalities that comprise the Island of Montreal.

Architek regularly concertizes and conducts educational outreach across Canada, collaborating with New Music Edmonton, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, The Cluster Festival of Music and Integrated Art (Winnipeg), Jeunesses Musicales Canada, Debut Atlantic, Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Music on Main (Vancouver), The University of Toronto New Music Festival, The Music Gallery (Toronto), New Music Concerts (Toronto), the Scotia Festival of Music (Halifax), and nearly all of Canada’s post-secondary music institutions. Architek’s international touring has taken them across Northern Europe in collaboration with the Ultima Festival (Oslo), NyMusikk Bergen, NTNU (Trondheim), Fylkingen (Stockholm), the Universities of Glasgow and Huddersfield (UK), Rainy Days Festival (Luxembourg), and the Royal College of Music (Stockholm).

Architek has commissioned and/or premiered over 60 works by composers from around the world. Several of these commissions have led to commercial recording projects, of which Architek appears on eight: Bookburners (Nicole Lizée / Centrediscs, 2014), A Boat Upon its Blood (Jason Sharp / Constellation Records, 2016), Metatron (Eliot Britton / Ambiances Magnétiques, 2017), Katana of Choice (Ben Reimer / Redshift Records, 2017), The Privacy of Domestic Life (Architek Percussion / Centrediscs, 2018), Six Changes (Architek Percussion 2022), Call Sign (Architek Percussion, 2022), and Apparitions vol. I (Olivier Alary / Line Imprints, 2023). Architek’s remarkably diverse artistic output is guided by the quartet’s belief that, given proper context, every audience member should feel welcomed, included, and challenged. Architek Percussion is Noam Bierstone, Ben Duinker, Alexander Haupt, and Alessandro Valiante.

Image by Julianna Schutz

Having failed to become the first Belgian basketball player in the NBA, Pieter Matthynssens instead graduated as an art historian from the University of Ghent where he cherishes fond memories of Gerard Mortier’s lessons and his love for the work of Stanley Kubrick. Curator Stef Van Bellingen introduced him to the art world and played a crucial role in shaping his view of art.

However, to avoid a midlife crisis, he went on to study cello at the conservatory of Ghent. Playing the cello didn’t satisfy him completely, though, which resulted in exploring the aesthetic possibilities of a whammy-pedal (Steen-Andersen), balloons (Maierhof), and wigs and gloves (Marino). It still didn’t suffice – come to think of it, what is this guy looking for, actually?!

He conducts an amateur orchestra in Sint-Niklaas, his birthplace. With these wonderful musicians, he premiered works by Vladimir Gorlinsky Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, Shalan Alhamwy and performed works by Iannis Xenakis, Dmitri Kourliandsky, Sofia Gubaidulina, Lars Petter-Hagen, Luc Brewaeys… With his partner-in-cello crime Benjamin Glorieux he performed the cello concerto by Friedrich Gulda. Both had the honour to share the stage with the legendary actress Viviane De Muynck and actor Johan Leysen.

Because the cello imposes certain linguistic limitations, he also gives frequent lectures and fiercely discusses music and the arts with Stefan Prins in the artistic board ofNadar, his favourite music ensemble. As guest professor, he teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. If somehow possible, he would like to die (an old man, of course) in Vienn.

Why Dries Tack started playing the clarinet is still a mystery. Perhaps due to his parents’ attempt and effort to get him off from the streets. Nevertheless, Dries finally started his study at the conservatories of Brussels, Antwerp, and Tilburg. His fascination for noise and the pleasure of sharing ideas with the others guided him towards his love of chamber music in contemporary experimental music and the field of music theatre. As a clarinet and object player, he enjoys playing with Ensemble Nadar, the Curious Chamber Players and the trio Lambda. Dries is also one of the core members of the chamber music collective ‘Glow’. As a passionate teacher, he teaches at music academies of Vilvoorde, Schaarbeek, and Grimbergen. For the moment, Dries loves running and tries to bake his own bread. It is not edible yet.

As sounds of all sorts trigger Katrien’s brain, she is constantly looking for a new sound world, whether it is through contemporary music or old music on period instruments. Katrien studied the flute and baroque flute in Ghent, Brussels and Strasbourg, with maestros Carlos Bruneel and Mario Caroli. During her studies she was inspired by master classes and summer courses like the Lucerne Festival Academy with Pierre Boulez, the Ictus Studio and Centre Acanthes Metz. She is a founding member of Nadar Ensemble and co-artistic director of Glow Collective and shares the love for her instruments, teaching the flute and baroque flute. Growing up at the seaside, she loves long walks on the beach and fighting the waves. Breathing is as important while playing the flute as on her yoga mat, as an irregular yogi and breathwork coach. She never forgets to remind her friends to keep on breathing.

Wannes Gonnissen is Nadar Ensemble’s technical coordinator, and has been part of the ensemble since 2012. On concert nights, sound is still his main job, but those who pay attention will often see him juggling lighting, video and live electronics too.

As a teenager in the ‘90s, he started experimenting with sound on a simple cassette 4-track, and recording himself as a one-man-band on several instruments. That curiosity eventually took a more formal shape at the Conservatory of Ghent, where he studied Music Production. A few years later, when already combining live sound withstudio work, he crossed paths with Nadar: after a recording with a few members of the ensemble, they invited him to do sound for what was meant to be a single concert. He never quite left.

Outside Nadar, Wannes still mixes bands in the pop and rock world, and he’ll insist that he doesn’t see much difference between that and contemporary classical - to him, it’s all just sound. At home, he’s often found scouring the internet for cool vintage gear, preferably defective, so he has an excuse to take it apart on his workbench. Sometimes he even puts it back together correctly

Keir GoGwilt is a violinist and composer whose work often interfaces with material histories of performance, especially regarding string playing, acoustics/tuning, and Baroque aesthetics. Recent projects include The Zarabanda Variations (Carrier Records / [Name] Publications / Wesleyan University Press) - a collection of songs, dances and poems reflecting Baroque histories and futurisms of New Spain, and described as “a thrillingly original dive into colonial history” (The Guardian) which "ping-pongs between eras and iterations with almost hallucinogenic vitality” (Bandcamp). He continues to tour his album with Ruckus Early Music, “The Edinburgh Rollick,” comprised of music from the Neil Gow collections, and featured in Joel Coen’s forthcoming film, Jack of Spades. In recent seasons, GoGwilt has been composer-in-residence with the JACK Quartet, a resident fellow at the Copland House, and a commission grantee of the Barlow Foundation (writing a piece for the Bergamot Quartet and harpist Jacqueline Kerrod). A founding member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), he has long worked in the space of collaboratively-devised and interdisciplinary productions. As a violinist he has soloed with groups including the Basel Sinfonieorchester, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Chinese National Symphony, Orquesta Filarmonica de Santiago, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He received his PhD in Music (Integrative Studies) at UCSD, where he was awarded the Chancellor's Dissertation Medal for his work on an aesthetic history of string pedagogy. His work is published in the Bach Journal and Current Musicology among others.

Photo by Peter Gannushkin

Krystina Marcoux is an artist and a percussionist recognized for her dynamic energy, musical precision, and commitment to interdisciplinary creation. In 2012, she won first prize at the OSM’s Standard Life Competition and after seven years of studies in France with Jean Geoffroy, she developed a philosophy of the stage as a malleable creative space. Her deep engagement with the marimba, particularly through the works of Bach, has become central to her artistic voice, allowing her to bridge classical rigor with contemporary exploration while remaining rooted in her musical foundations, which she continually refines. She made her solo debut with the OSM in 2019 under Kent Nagano's baton and in 2021 became the first marimbist to perform at the Montreal Bach Festival. Her doctoral research focused on methodologiesfor writing interdisciplinary shows (CNSMD Lyon), and her postdoctoral work at UQAM explored a methodology where performers can embody the role of creator and eliminate hierarchical barriers in the staged arts, a commitment that shapes all her work. 

With cellist Juan Sebastian Delgado, she forms Stick&Bow, a creative and singular duo known for its bold arrangements and staged musical concerts. They were honoured with the 2024 Opus Prize for "Artist of the Year" and "International Outreach" and their four albums have received international acclaim, with tours spanning Argentina, Mexico, Armenia, USA, France, and beyond. The duo regularly collaborates with internationally renowned artists such as an upcoming project with DJ 
Philippe Cohen Solal (Gotan Project). Having performed at festivals such as Avignon, she has written and directed a dozen shows, including Bavela (150+ performances across three continents) and Speak No Words (2026), co-created with composer Philippe Macnab-Séguin for Stick&Bow and Paramirabo. As percussionist and a member of the artistic committee of Paramirabo, she contributes to an ensemble committed to expanding the boundaries of contemporary Canadian creation, an undeniable reference on the national stage. In November 2026, she will take the leading acting role in a musically driven theatre project by Mathilde Côté, Suzanne Guité. Co-founder of the Montreal-based collective Angle Mort, she continues to explore intersections between music, gestures, technology, and other artistic disciplines, a space where creative hierarchies dissolve. 

As the artist in residency with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada (2026/27), she will premiere three new programs with collaborations centered around the marimba. Krystina will also be featured at PasicQuebec 2027 and she will serve as an interdisciplinary specialist at Banff Centre's Fuse 2.0 (April 2027). Through these residencies and collaborations, she integrates her creative practice into pedagogy. At UQAM, she teaches a doctoral seminar on "Interdisciplinary Creation as Social Engine," and with LeVivier she facilitates workshops exploring how the body becomes an artistic tool for musicians. Through her coachings at Orford Musique and her teaching at the Quebec Conservatories, she transmits a philosophy grounded in her multifaceted background: her training in theatre, dance, and clown, along with six years of performing in street festivals with BAM all across Europe, have shaped her conviction that music dialogues with the stage, the body, and other disciplines, a vision she transmits to the next generation of artists, preparing them for the challenges of tomorrow.  

Photo by Brenden Friesen

Jessie Maryon Davies is musical energiser. In 2018, she was awarded The Unsung Hero award by Time Out recognising her achievements in building community through music. She performs regularly as a pianist both in classical and pop settings (Kate Nash, Ren Harvieu, Tone). She leads creative music projects in schools and community groups across the U.K and has conducted children’s choirs in Palestine and India. Jessie is Musical Director of trans-inclusive, women’s pop choir Lips who have performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and live on BBC Television. In 2015 she co-founded the award-winning charity Spark the Noise to help build self-esteem and confidence among girls, trans and non-binary youth in London. As a composer, she specialises in co-creation and has written music for English National Opera, Wigmore Hall, City of London Sinfonia, Britten Pears Arts and Hightide Theatre. In 2026 she wrote the music and lyrics for children's musical Mrs Armitage - a live stage version of Quentin Blake's much loved classic (Southbank Centre, Edinburgh Fringe). A passionate speaker on music’s unique power to strengthen community and enable personal development, Jessie has spoken live on BBC radio, delivered a Tedex talk and chaired panels at the Southbank Centre and Serious Festival. She trains and mentors young professional musicians at the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Academy of Music,  where she was recently awarded the honour of Associate.