DARCY KURONEN worked from 1986 to 2020 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, curating one of America’s oldest and most important public collections of musical instruments, with over 1300 examples from all time periods and regions of the world. Born in Deadwood, South Dakota, he is a graduate of the University of South Dakota, where in 1981 he received his Bachelor of Music degree in applied harpsichord and a Master of Music degree in 1986 with a concentration in the history of musical instruments. During his college studies he worked as a research assistant at the University’s National Music Museum, a world-renowned collection of over 15,000 musical instruments. In 2011 USD presented him with an Alumni Achievement Award.

Kuronen has been a member of several professional organizations, including the American Musical Instrument Society (AMIS) and the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Instruments and Music (CIMCIM). He has presented several lectures to these organizations, as well as for Edinburgh University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brigham Young University, Smith College, the North Bennet Street School, the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, the Association of String Instrument Artisans, the New England Museum Association, the Sigal Music Museum, Strawbery Banke Museum, and Historic Deerfield. He also serves as a volunteer curator for the collection of historical instruments owned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is on the board of advisors and accessions committee for the Sigal Music Museum, and was on the curatorial council for the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ.

The focus of Kuronen’s research is early American musical instruments, especially pianos, violins, guitars, and free reeds. He has written numerous articles and book reviews, and his article, "The Musical Instruments of Benjamin Crehore," published in The Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was awarded the Frances Densmore Prize by AMIS for the most significant article-length publication in English for 1991-1992 on the subject of musical instruments. In 2023, AMIS also presented him with the prestigious Curt Sachs Award, honoring his lifetime contributions to the goals of the Society.