Page 42 - SRMF 2024 Season Program Book

TESSA LARK - VIOLIN

Violinist Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating
artistic voices of our time, consistently praised by
critics and audiences for her astounding range of
sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance.
Increasingly in demand in the classical realm, in
2020 she was nominated for a Grammy in the
Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. She is
also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of
her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with
programming that includes Appalachian and
bluegrass music and inspiring composers to write
for her.
Following a busy summer that saw her perform
with New York’s Carnegie Hall Citywide, La Jolla
Music Society SummerFest, and the Ravinia Festival,
among many others, highlights of Lark’s 2023-
24 season included the world premiere of Carlos
Izcaray’s Violin Concerto – written for her – under
the composer’s baton with the Alabama Symphony;
and concerts with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker
marking both her European orchestral debut and
her first performances of Gang Chen and Zhanhao
He’s Violin Concerto, “Butterfly Lovers.” She reprised
Michael Torke’s violin concerto, Sky – also written
for her, and the 2020 recording of which earned her
a Grammy nomination – with Oklahoma’s Signature Orchestra; the Louisville Orchestra; and the Albany,
Symphony and the Sarasota Orchestra; returns to Indianapolis, Knoxville and Seattle Symphonies;
South Carolina’s Greenville Symphony, the Virginia as well as being presented by Carnegie Hall, New
Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic and England’s York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall,
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, the Music Center at
performs as a chamber musician in duos with Strathmore, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
double bassist Michael Thurber and jazz guitarist in Boston, Cal Performances, San Francisco
Frank Vignola. She has a new string trio project with Performances, the Seattle Chamber Music Society,
composer-bassist Edgar Meyer and cellist Joshua Australia’s Musica Viva Festival, and the Marlboro,
Roman. Mostly Mozart, and Bridgehampton summer
Lark’s newest album, The Stradgrass Sessions, festivals.
released in spring 2023, features an all-star roster Lark’s debut commercial recording was the
of collaborators and composers including Meyer, Grammy-nominated SKY, a bluegrass-inspired
pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull and violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke and
fiddler Michael Cleveland. Album selections mix performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra.
original compositions by Lark and her collaborators Besides The Stradgrass Sessions, her discography
with a sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe, a selection of also includes Fantasy on First Hand Records:
Bartók’s violin duets arranged for violin and fantasias by Schubert, Telemann and Fritz Kreisler;
mandolin and the world premiere recording of John Ravel’s Tzigane; and Lark’s own composition
Corigliano’s STOMP. Appalachian Fantasy. Invention, marking the
The violinist has performed with orchestras, debut album for the violin-bass duo made up of
recital venues and festivals around the world. She Lark and her fiancé, Michael Thurber, comprises
has appeared with the Royal Scottish National Continued on page 44

42 - 2024 SUNRIVERMUSIC.ORG