Liam Cummins builds musical bridges. His compositions span the extremes – loud and soft, new and old, gentle and tumultuous – but ultimately find the magic in liminal places between them.
His diverse musical language is guided by an equally diverse range of collaborators. He has been commissioned by Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York Youth Symphony, Orchestra Lumos, The Juilliard School for AXIOM, and Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and further collaborated with National Repertory Orchestra, Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra and a host of other orchestras, ensembles, soloists, singers, dancers and choreographers across the United States and beyond. He is a recipient of a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and the YoungArts Gold award in Classical Music.
This year his music premieres at The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the Aspen Music Festival and numerous other venues throughout the country.
Liam is pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree at The Juilliard School, studying with John Corigliano.
His diverse musical language is guided by an equally diverse range of collaborators. He has been commissioned by Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York Youth Symphony, Orchestra Lumos, The Juilliard School for AXIOM, and Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and further collaborated with National Repertory Orchestra, Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra and a host of other orchestras, ensembles, soloists, singers, dancers and choreographers across the United States and beyond. He is a recipient of a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and the YoungArts Gold award in Classical Music.
This year his music premieres at The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the Aspen Music Festival and numerous other venues throughout the country.
Liam is pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree at The Juilliard School, studying with John Corigliano.
Recent News
"Five American Portraits" premieres with Orchestra LumosFive American Portraits was commissioned by Orchestra Lumos and Michael Stern, Music Director, to recognize America's 250th anniversary and the beautiful, complex and frequently troubling history of the country. Liam's "Howard Zinn: A People's History" was performed alongside four other world premieres by Christopher Theofanidis, Nicky Sohn, Quinn Mason and Clarice Assad. The premiere performances took place in Stamford, Connecticut on April 18-19, 2026, with the next performance scheduled for National Repertory Orchestra in July. More Information.
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In The Studio with New York Youth SymphonyMusica Solis records Liam's clarinet concerto,"A Lullaby and a Dream" with the musicians of New York Youth Symphony. The orchestra premiered the clarinet concerto last fall as part of their John Deak First Music Commissioning Program, with Bixby Kennedy playing the solo clarinet part and Andrew Kim conducting. Musica Solis will release A Lullaby And A Dream on streaming next winter.
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"The Weight of the Sun" at Choreographers and ComposersThrough Juilliard's unique "Choreographers and Composers" production, Liam collaborated on a new work for chamber ensemble and dancers with Juilliard student and choreographer Mateo Tirres. The piece, "The Weight of the Sun," was premiered November 20-23, 2025, at The Juilliard School.
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Carnegie Hall debut with
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AXIOM premieres PleaThe Juilliard School commissioned Liam's twenty minute violin concerto, Plea, for its new music ensemble AXIOM. The work is scored for chamber orchestra and violin, and written for rising star violinist and Juilliard student Sophia Werner, who gave the premiere on April 25, 2025 at Alice Tully Hall. The premiere was conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky.
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Sounds of US at the Kennedy CenterLiam's Below Your Heart was performed at the Kennedy Center as part of Jennifer Koh's Sounds of US festival, a day-long event created to celebrate the breadth and American music and investigate how American identity translates into sound. Performers from the Juilliard School and professional musicians in the D.C. area led the premieres by Liam and other young composers from around the country.
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Orchestra of St. Luke's premieres
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