2020년 'Torke: Sky, Concerto for Violin'으로 제 62회 그래미상 최우수 클래식 솔로 연주상(Best Classical Instrumental Solo) 후보에 올랐던 바이올리니스트 테싸 라크(Tessa Lark)가 지난 5월 새 앨범 'The Stradgrass Sessions'을 발표한 후 여름 시즌 공연에 나섰다.

 

테싸 라크는 업스테이트 뉴욕 카라무어 축제(7월 1일)을 비롯 브라이언트파크(7월 14일), 시애틀(7월 18일), 캘리포니아 라호야 뮤직 소사이어티 섬머 페스트(8월 4-6일, 16일, 19일), 나파밸리(8월 12일), 신시내티(8월 25-26일), 그리고 뉴욕의 리틀 아일랜드(8월 31일), 시카고의 라비니아 페스티벌(9월 3일)등지에서 연주한다. 

 

켄터키주 리치몬드에서 태어난 테싸 라크는 6살 때부터 바이올린을 배웠으며, 아버지의 가스펠 블루그래스 밴드 'Narrow Road'와 연주, 녹음했다. 16살 때 신시내티 심포니아 모차르트의 바이올린 콘체르토 3번을 협연하며 데뷔한 후 신시내티 컨서바토리에서 공부했다. 이어 뉴잉글랜드콘서바토리(NEC)에서 학사와 석사학위, 줄리아드 음대에서 아티스트 디플로마를 받았다. 테싸 라크는 시카고스트라디바리협회 익명의 기부자로부터 대여한 약 1600년경 제작한 G.P. Maggini 바이올린을 연주한다. https://www.tessalark.com

 

 

Following the Release of The Stradgrass Sessions, Violinist Tessa Lark Embarks on Summer Season with Performances at Caramoor, Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Music Society and Many More 

 

Tessa Lark  photo: Lauren Desberg

 

(June 2023) — Grammy-nominated violinist Tessa Lark released a new album, The Stradgrass Sessions, last month, with an all-star roster of collaborators and composers: bassist Edgar Meyer – whom the violinist cites as one of her biggest musical influences – pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull and fiddler Michael Cleveland. Album selections mix original compositions by Lark and her collaborators with a sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe, whose music forms an important part of Lark’s standard repertoire; a selection of Bartók’s violin duets arranged for violin and mandolin; and the world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s STOMP. Now the violinist embarks on a summer season that takes her from coast to coast in the U.S., including appearances at Caramoor (July 1), the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest (Aug 4–6, 16, 19) and New York’s Carnegie Hall Citywide series (July 14) with her fiancé and collaborator, double-bassist and composer Michael Thurber, who also co-produced the album. She performs at New York’s Little Island (Aug 31) and the Ravinia Festival (Sep 3) with a signature program of Ysaÿe sonatas – celebrating the 100th anniversary of their composition – alternating with her own originals; plays chamber music at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival (June 10–17), Seattle Chamber Music Society (July 18–22) and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra Summermusik Festival (Aug 25 & 26), and much more. 

 

Lark calls her new album, The Stradgrass Sessions “a snapshot of the way I live in music; diversely, organically, intimately, sometimes collaboratively, sometimes solitarily, always sincerely – and anywhere, be it a concert hall or home studio.” The title neatly sums up the violinist’s unique stylistic personality. She explains:

 

“The word ‘Stradgrass’ first came about in 2015, from the novelty of performing bluegrass on the Stradivari I was playing at the time. … Hearing bluegrass played on a Strad is unusual, unfortunately, so I thought it warranted its own term. The word has caught on in the social media world and seems to succinctly encapsulate what one might partly expect from a recital of mine.”

 

Lark has a particular love for the music of Ysaÿe and gives several performances this summer celebrating the centennial of his six violin sonatas. As she says:

 

"When I first heard an Ysaÿe sonata decades ago, it felt like uncovering an intrinsic truth within my musical sensibilities. … My fascination with this man, his life and his music has since only grown, and I'm taking that interest one step further for the centennial of Ysaÿe's Six Sonatas in 2023. He had a lavish curiosity for music, people and life experience that is reflected within the sonatas by each work's personal dedication and imaginative scope. I’ll be performing all six Ysaÿe sonatas in one concert, along with new, original pieces inspired by dedicatees that are near and dear to my own heart. This is my way of paying tribute to both the music of this generous and innovative composer and the principles that guided him: to stretch oneself, create new work, and make it for those you love."

 

Unforeseen opportunities have recently earned the violinist glowing reviews. This past February she was called upon on short notice to make an unexpected debut with the St. Louis Symphony led by Music Director Stéphane Denève as a last-minute replacement for an ailing Nicola Benedetti, performing Chausson’s Poème and Ravel’s Tzigane. Just two weeks later she took on an even greater challenge, when Latvian violinist Baiba Skride had to withdraw from the performance of a new concerto due to illness. In this case, on a week’s notice, Lark learned Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s Portrait of a Lady by Swan Lake to perform with the BBC Symphony at the Barbican Centre. As The Times reported, the performance was “steely and impassioned,” with “stretches of breathtaking beauty.” The same reviewer was “transported again with Lark’s encore, an immaculate performance of Bach’s Preludio from the Partita in E major.”  

 

The Stradgrass Sessions album has earned similar praise. Gramophone declared: 

 

“The album’s highlight is Edgar Meyer’s Concert Duo for violin and bass, for which Lark is joined in performance by the composer. It’s a remarkable sound world, full of quiet, angular funk. ... Her sound is bright, with no-nonsense attack and clarity of note. Sparing vibrato, combined with a gorgeously harmonic approach towards intonation, makes for a wonderful warmth.”

 

Songlines agreed: 

“Kentucky-born, classically trained Grammy-nominated violinist Tessa Lark's latest album is packed with some of the finest chambergrass music human ears are likely to encounter. … Although she used her usual instrument – a circa 1600 Maggini violin courtesy of the Stradivari Society of Chicago – to record The Stradgrass Sessions, the moniker splendidly evokes the uncommon alchemy running though the album. ‘Concerto Duo for Violin and Bass’ is a masterpiece of intricate interplay between Lark and Meyer. The recording of ‘STOMP’ by American composer John Corigliano spotlights Lark's deft handling of the work's non-standard tuning, tricky time signatures and foot-stomping blend of blues, bluegrass and jazz. The deep grace flowing through Stephen Foster's American folk classic, ‘My Old Kentucky Home,’ has perhaps never been more exquisitely expressed than in Lark and Batiste's rendition. The Stradgrass Sessions is a rare gem.”

 

July 1

Katonah, NY

Caramoor

Music & Meditation in the Garden

Michael Thurber, double bass

 

 

 

Tessa Lark & Michael Thurber/ Louis Cato  photo: Shervin Lainez 

 

July 14, 7PM-8:30PM  *FREE

New York, NY

Carnegie Hall Citywide @Bryant Park  

Michael Thurber, double bass

Louis Cato, guitar

 

American folk and European classical styles come together with virtuosity, playfulness, and a contagious sense of curiosity in the hands of violinist-fiddler Tessa Lark and composer-bassist Michael Thurber. In music that ranges from works by J. S. Bach to a variety of bluegrass, jazz, Appalachian music, folk songs, and improvised works, their seamless musical partnership has delighted audiences at Caramoor, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, and beyond. For this special performance in Bryant Park, they are joined by special guest Louis Cato, the Grammy-nominated guitarist and vocalist widely recognized as the bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

 

Carnegie Hall Citywide presents five nights of music, featuring six-time Grammy Award winner Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, violinist Tessa Lark and bassist Michael Thurber, an album-release show with renowned Mexican vocalist Magos Herrera featuring chamber orchestra The Knights, Champe-Soukous Collective, South African vocal group and America's Got Talent finalist Ndlovu Youth Choir.

https://bryantpark.org/calendar/event/carnegie-hall-citywide-tessa-lark-and-michael-thurber/2023-07-14

 

 

July 18, 20, 22

Seattle, WA

Seattle Chamber Music Society

July 18 Kian RAVAEI: The Little Things

July 20 BRAHMS: Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60

July 22 Kian RAVAEI: The Little Things

BRAHMS: Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60

SCHUBERT: String Quintet in C, Op. 163, D956

 

July 26

Truckee, NV

Classical Tahoe

Michael Thurber, double bass

 

July 28, 30 

Incline Village, NV

Classical Tahoe Ricardi Pavilion

July 28 “Made in America” 

Daniela Candillari, conductor

BARBER: Violin Concerto, Op.14

July 30 “Love, Murder, and the Violin” 

Gilles Vonsattel, piano 

BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer"

 

Aug 4–6

La Jolla, CA

The Baker-Baum Concert Hall

La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest

Mark Simpson, clarinet 

Alexi Kenney, violin

Maiya Papach, viola 

Efe Baltacigil, Coleman Itzkoff, cello

J.S. BACH: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (arr. string trio)

Osvaldo GOLIJOV: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind

 

Aug 12

Napa, CA

Music in the Vineyards

2023 Esterhazy Concert and Dinner

YSAŸE Sonatas @ 100 and LARK originals

 

Aug 16 & 19

La Jolla, CA

The Baker-Baum Concert Hall

La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest

“American Classic” 

Louis Cato, multi-instrumentalist

Mark Dover, clarinet

Tessa Lark, violin

Michael Thurber, double bass

 

Aug 25 & 26

Cincinnati, OH

The Barn

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Summermusik musicians

F. PRICE: Piano Quintet in A minor, III. Juba

Wynton MARSALIS: At The Octoroon Balls, V. Hellbound Highball

TRADITIONALS (arr. Danish String Quartet):

Nordic Folk Tunes

Jasspodspolska

Gammel Reinlender fra Sønndala (Old Reinlender From Sønndala)

Sekstur fra Vendsyssel: The Peat Dance

 

Aug 31, 7PM  * FREE

New York, NY

Little Island  

YSAŸE Sonatas @ 100 and LARK originals

 

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. In 2020 she was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category and received one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards: the special Hunt Family Award.

She solos regularly with many of the major orchestras around the world, from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to Seattle Symphony, and has appeared in recital in such prestigious venues and series as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debuts series in Weill Hall (2017). 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 – most notably SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for Tessa by Michael Torke which earned both a GRAMMY nomination for Tessa and a Pulitzer finalist distinction for Torke.

 

Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

https://littleisland.org/event/tessa-lark-2

 

Sep 3

Highland Park, IL

Bennett Gordon Hall

Ravinia Festival

YSAŸE Sonatas @ 100 and LARK originals

https://www.tessalark.com/concerts