Tekla Cunningham, violin and director

Baroque violinist Tekla Cunningham specializes in bringing the music of the baroque, classical and romantic eras to life with vivid and expressive historically informed performances. Praised as “a consummate musician whose flowing solos and musical gestures are a joy to watch”, her performances have been described as “ravishingly beautiful” and “stellar”. Tekla is a passionate force for thriving musical communities, serving as the founder and director of the Seattle Bach Festival (founded 2024), Artist-in-Residence and director of the Baroque Ensemble at the University of Washington, and founder and director of the Whidbey Island Music Festival (established in 2006). She enjoyed a long association with Pacific MusicWorks as violinist and co-artistic director with her colleagues Maxine Eilander, Stephen Stubbs and Henry Lebedinsky.

Her recent release “Stylus Phantasticus” with Pacific MusicWorks is delighting critics. “Tekla is a marvel…an endlessly songful bird”. Early Music America describes the recording as “played with verve, the music presented here reaffirms the old notion that instrumental music can have the flair of any theatrical spectacle. … a stellar vessel for the boldest showmanship.”

Tekla studied history and German literature at Johns Hopkins University, and music and violin at Peabody Conservatory, the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna and the San Francisco Conservatory. Tekla plays on a violin made by Sanctus Seraphin in Venice in 1746.