Cassandra Miller’s solo violin piece “for mira” was composed for Mira Benjamin in 2012. The first performance was given at La Sala Rossa in Montréal as part of the nu:nord project. The music takes a short sample of Kurt Cobain’s singing voice and reveals facets of its quality and structure through repetition. When Benjamin first asked Miller what the piece was “about”, she replied, “This is a piece about your masculinity.” Mira Benjamin is a Canadian violinist, researcher and new-music instigator. She performs new and experimental music, specialising in microtonal string performance practice. Benjamin co-directs nu:nord, an international community-building project that engages artists from Canada, Norway and the UK. Originally from Vancouver, Mira lived for ten years in Montréal, where she was a member of Quatuor Bozzini. She moved to London in 2014. She gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts in 2015-16.
