I had such a marvelous time playing Georg Friedrich Haas' Violin Concerto No. 2 – which he wrote for me after years of friendship and collaborations – at Grafenegg with the excellent Tonkünstler Orchester and Baldur Brönnimann. From the press release: “Springing from a warm musical friendship, Haas was first inspired by Cuckson's performance of his work for solo violin, de terrae fine, and in 2015 told her that he wanted to write a concerto for her to play. The resulting work, 32 minutes long, is a fascinating work that highlights Miranda's skill performing microtonal music, and Haas's deft touch with an inventive musical language. The concerto is a kind of personal narrative, threaded through by family memories, individual histories, and experiences of social upheaval, and brought to expressive life by Cuckson's deeply musical virtuosity.'

It is an extremely meaningful piece to me and for my family, and especially to perform it in Austria. Thank you to everyone at the Grafenegg festival for the enthusiasm and support! It was a huge pleasure to play it again, feeling a great rapport with the musicians, and very satisfying to delve into the wonderful music. Though it rained on concert day, we did perform the piece at the Wolkenturm, with evocative grey skies and gusty breezes and bird sounds, and the audience wearing white plastic ponchos. Hope to play it again soon! It would be amazing to do it in the US.It was recorded for broadcast on Ö1 radio – listen here Looks like their broadcasts stay posted online for a week. The 2nd half of our concert (Schumann 4) was moved indoors due to the weather conditions and wasn't recorded. The rest of the broadcast features other performances of the Tonkünstler Orchestra.

I did interviews for Ö1 and the pre-concert talk, and spoke in depth about the piece, its expression, and various musical aspects, the microtonality but also pacing, rhythm, and orchestration. While the orchestra submerges the soloist at a few moments, at many times it makes a timbral shadow or aura around/behind the solo part, supporting to create reverberating harmonies and colors, and a sense of layered perspective. The violin also plays melodies that are extremely poignant and exposed. I'll be very happy to talk more about the music in future.