Robert Cuckson

Robert Cuckson received his B.S. from the Mannes College of Music and his D.M.A. from Yale University. He studied theory with Carl Schachter, Ernst Oster, and Allen Forte and composition with Peter Pindar Stearns and Yehudi Wyner. He also studied piano with Ilona Kabos, Jeaneane Dowis, and Carlo Zecchi.

From 1978 to 1987, he was dean of the Mannes College of Music, and he is chair of the Techniques of Music department and a member of the composition faculty there. He joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1991.

His compositions include three operas, five concertos, chamber music, and piano works. In 2009 he was composer in residence at the Marlboro Music Festival. His music has been performed by such ensembles as the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, the Janáček String Quartet, the Czech Philharmonic Wind Quintet, and the Yale Collegium Orchestra. As a pianist, he has given solo recitals in London, Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm, Berlin, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Sydney, and has appeared as soloist in concerto performances with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.