Tessa Lark. Courtesy/LACA
LACA News:
Tessa Lark, 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, will perform a solo violin program presented by the Los Alamos Concert Association (LACA) in Los Alamos at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 6.
In 2020, Lark was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. Lark’s newest album, The Stradgrass Sessions, features a mix of original compositions by the violinist and her collaborators, double bassist Edgar Meyer, pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull, and fiddler Michael Cleveland including a sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe; Bartók violin duets arranged for violin and mandolin; and the world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s STOMP.
The violinist has performed with orchestras, recital venues and festivals around the world. She has appeared with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; the Louisville Orchestra; the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Indianapolis, Knoxville and Seattle Symphonies; as well as being presented by Carnegie Hall, New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Cal Performances, San Francisco Performances, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Australia’s Musica Viva Festival, and the Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, and Bridgehampton summer festivals. The Moab Music Festival announced in January 2025 that she has been named its next Artistic Director.
Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. In addition to her performance schedule, Lark is Artistic Director of Musical Masterworks, a chamber music presenter in Old Lyme, Connecticut. She champions young, aspiring artists and supports the next generation of musicians through her work as Co-host/Creative of NPR’s From the Top, the premier radio showcase for the nation’s most talented young musicians. She also serves as Mentor and board member of the Irving M. Klein International Strings Competition.
Lark 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.
This concert will feature a pre-concert lecture at 2 p.m. by noted program annotator for the Santa Fe Opera and critic-at-large for the Santa Fe New Mexican, James M. Keller, who will speak about the works in the program. Keller’s lecture is made possible by the Rosalie Heller Memorial Lecture Endowment held by the Los Alamos Community Foundation.
LACA’s concert venue is Duane Smith Auditorium, 1300 Diamond Drive in Los Alamos.
Tickets ($40 plus $3 online service fee) are available in advance at www.losalamosconcert.org via Tix or before the concert at the Box Office ($40). Tickets for youth ages 6-18 are free. Music educators in Northern New Mexico may also register for free tickets at https://losalamosconcert.org/tickets/.
For complete artist, venue, and ticket information, visit LACA’s web site at www.losalamosconcert.org.
PROGRAM
Georg Philipp Telemann Medley arr. Tessa Lark
Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006
Tessa Lark Variations on a Moment
Eugène Ysaÿe Sonata for Solo Violin in D Minor ‘Ballade’, Op. 27, No. 3
Eugène Ysaÿe Sonata Solo Violin in E Minor, Op. 27, No. 4
Tessa Lark Ysaÿe Shuffle
Jay Ungar Ashokan Farewell
Tessa Lark Jig and Pop for Solo Violin
Tessa Lark Appalachian Fantasy