[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
story by Kyle MacMillan<\/em> …with each style enhancing and enriching the other\u2014think trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (jazz), string player Rob Moose (indie rock) and bassist Edgar Meyer (bluegrass).<\/p>\n Another name on that crossover list is Tessa Lark, a violinist who has performed in such distinguished classical venues as Carnegie Hall and Amsterdam\u2019s Concertgebouw but also likes to return to the down-home worlds of bluegrass and Appalachian music. The Stradgrass Sessions<\/em><\/a>, the title of her soon-to-be released recording, cleverly reflects that stylistic blend, with its mash-up of the word \u201cbluegrass\u201d and the last name of Antonio Stradivari, the famed 17th- and 18th-century Italian violin maker.<\/p>\n \u201cI really loved the term,\u201d Lark said of \u201cStradgrass\u201d in an interview for the Colorado Music Festival. \u201cIt seemed to really fit how I live in music. I was born and raised in Kentucky and formally trained in classical music. My dad plays banjo, so bluegrass was always a part of my life. I always promised myself to keep my integrity with where I came from in life.\u201d<\/p>\n Lark will make her Colorado Music Festival debut as part of the summer event\u2019s weeklong Music of Today series<\/a>, including works by more than a dozen living composers, ranging from such stalwarts as John Corigliano and Philip Glass to newer talents like Flying Lotus, Stacy Garrop, and Caroline Shaw. The series is co-curated by Festival Music Director Peter Oundjian and celebrated California composer John Adams<\/a>, who will conduct two of his works.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like this new-music festival that they are curating is a testament to the times we\u2019re in,\u201d Lark said, \u201cwhen the music that is being composed today is extremely relevant to the ears that are going to hear it. So, I\u2019m excited to see the audience that this festival draws. I\u2019m excited to hear the music.\u201d<\/p>\n The violinist will be featured July 14<\/a> in Samuel Adams\u2019 Chamber Concerto, a 2017 work for violin and a 14-piece accompanying ensemble. The son of John Adams, Samuel has carved out his own high-level career, including a residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2015-18. Also on that program<\/a> is John Adams\u2019 jazz-tinged orchestral work City Noir<\/em> (2009) and the world premiere of a new composition by Timo Andres. The next day<\/a>, Lark and pianist Andres are joined by saxophonist Timothy McAllister and members of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra for the second installment of Kaleidoscope<\/a>, which will bring together an array of contemporary chamber works, including John Adams\u2019 Road Movies<\/em> (1995).<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a major honor to be there and to play his music while he is present,\u201d Lark said of John Adams and Road Movies.<\/em> \u201cA little nerve-wracking, because I\u2019ve never played his music. I\u2019ve just admired it from afar. It\u2019s just incredible music, and his son is a phenomenal composer as well.\u201d<\/p>\n When Lark, 32, was a child, her parents noticed that she had learned by ear several dozen songs on a toy piano. But because the family did not own a full-size piano, a teacher suggested she start lessons on the violin with the idea of switching instruments later, but the 7-year-old musician declared herself a violinist after just six months of studies.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t look back,\u201d Lark said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a very natural thing for me. I don\u2019t ever recall a time in my life when I really had to think, \u2018Am I going to be a musician or play violin professionally?\u2019 I\u2019ve lived with it my whole life, and I\u2019ve really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2001-2006, Lark studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus, a well-known violin pedagogue, in the prestigious Starling Preparatory Strings Project at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and he taught her what it would take for a career as a soloist. After capping that time with her debut with the Cincinnati Symphony when she was 16, she went on to graduate from the New England Conservatory and complete her artist diploma at New York\u2019s Juilliard School.<\/p>\n One of the pivotal moments on her road to a professional career came in 2012, when she won first place at New York\u2019s respected Naumburg Competition, one of several such contests she took part in, and gained some early concert engagements as part of the prizes. \u201cThose [competitions] made a big difference,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause that was free publicity and attention, which I was really grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n While Lark likes to draw on her Kentucky background and play cross-genre music, she also performs plenty of the classical standards for the violin as well, and she is even set to take over in July as artistic director of Musical Masterworks, a chamber-music presenter in Connecticut.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I\u2019m just honestly seeking out masterworks from all eras and all styles,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty common now to hear from musicians of my generation and later that people are over the term \u2018genre.\u2019 I look for music that I fall in love with and that has a deep message. Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Brahms \u2013 that all checks out.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_cta button_url=”https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/calendar\/list\/?tribe_eventcategory%5B0%5D=417&hide_subsequent_recurrences=1″ url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Music of Today” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 2022 Festival attendees have two opportunities to hear Tessa Lark perform music this summer at Chautauqua Auditorium during our week-long series featuring Music of Today (Lark performs July 14 & 16).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_cta][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI\u2019m just honestly seeking out masterworks from all eras and all styles,\u201d Lark said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty common now to hear from musicians of my generation and later that people are over the term \u2018genre.\u2019 I look for music that I fall in love with and that has a deep message.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":271496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Many classical artists regularly cross into other musical genres and vice versa, with each style enhancing and enriching the other\u2014think trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (jazz), string player Rob Moose (indie rock) and bassist Edgar Meyer (bluegrass).<\/p> Another name on that crossover list is Tessa Lark, a violinist who has performed in such distinguished classical venues as Carnegie Hall and Amsterdam\u2019s Concertgebouw but also likes to return to the down-home worlds of bluegrass and Appalachian music. The Stradgrass Sessions<\/em><\/a>, the title of her soon-to-be released recording, cleverly reflects that stylistic blend, with its mash-up of the word \u201cbluegrass\u201d and the last name of Antonio Stradivari, the famed 17th- and 18th-century Italian violin maker.<\/p> \u201cI really loved the term,\u201d Lark said of \u201cStradgrass\u201d in an interview for the Colorado Music Festival. \u201cIt seemed to really fit how I live in music. I was born and raised in Kentucky and formally trained in classical music. My dad plays banjo, so bluegrass was always a part of my life. I always promised myself to keep my integrity with where I came from in life.\u201d<\/p> Lark will make her Colorado Music Festival debut as part of the summer event\u2019s weeklong Music of Today series<\/a>, including works by more than a dozen living composers, ranging from such stalwarts as John Corigliano and Philip Glass to newer talents like Flying Lotus, Stacy Garrop, and Caroline Shaw. The series is co-curated by Festival Music Director Peter Oundjian and celebrated California composer John Adams<\/a>, who will conduct two of his works.<\/p> \u201cI feel like this new-music festival that they are curating is a testament to the times we\u2019re in,\u201d Lark said, \u201cwhen the music that is being composed today is extremely relevant to the ears that are going to hear it. So, I\u2019m excited to see the audience that this festival draws. I\u2019m excited to hear the music.\u201d<\/p> The violinist will be featured July 14<\/a> in Samuel Adams\u2019 Chamber Concerto, a 2017 work for violin and a 14-piece accompanying ensemble. The son of John Adams, Samuel has carved out his own high-level career, including a residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2015-18. Also on that program<\/a> is John Adams\u2019 jazz-tinged orchestral work City Noir<\/em> (2009) and the world premiere of a new composition by Timo Andres. The next day<\/a>, Lark and pianist Andres are joined by saxophonist Timothy McAllister and members of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra for the second installment of Kaleidoscope<\/a>, which will bring together an array of contemporary chamber works, including John Adams\u2019 Road Movies<\/em> (1995).<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s a major honor to be there and to play his music while he is present,\u201d Lark said of John Adams and Road Movies.<\/em> \u201cA little nerve-wracking, because I\u2019ve never played his music. I\u2019ve just admired it from afar. It\u2019s just incredible music, and his son is a phenomenal composer as well.\u201d<\/p> When Lark, 32, was a child, her parents noticed that she had learned by ear several dozen songs on a toy piano. But because the family did not own a full-size piano, a teacher suggested she start lessons on the violin with the idea of switching instruments later, but the 7-year-old musician declared herself a violinist after just six months of studies.<\/p> \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t look back,\u201d Lark said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a very natural thing for me. I don\u2019t ever recall a time in my life when I really had to think, \u2018Am I going to be a musician or play violin professionally?\u2019 I\u2019ve lived with it my whole life, and I\u2019ve really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p> In 2001-2006, Lark studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus, a well-known violin pedagogue, in the prestigious Starling Preparatory Strings Project at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and he taught her what it would take for a career as a soloist. After capping that time with her debut with the Cincinnati Symphony when she was 16, she went on to graduate from the New England Conservatory and complete her artist diploma at New York\u2019s Juilliard School.<\/p> One of the pivotal moments on her road to a professional career came in 2012, when she won first place at New York\u2019s respected Naumburg Competition, one of several such contests she took part in, and gained some early concert engagements as part of the prizes. \u201cThose [competitions] made a big difference,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause that was free publicity and attention, which I was really grateful for.\u201d<\/p> While Lark likes to draw on her Kentucky background and play cross-genre music, she also performs plenty of the classical standards for the violin as well, and she is even set to take over in July as artistic director of Musical Masterworks, a chamber-music presenter in Connecticut.<\/p> \u201cSo, I\u2019m just honestly seeking out masterworks from all eras and all styles,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty common now to hear from musicians of my generation and later that people are over the term \u2018genre.\u2019 I look for music that I fall in love with and that has a deep message. Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Brahms \u2013 that all checks out.\u201d<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[382,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-features"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradomusicfestival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
photo by Lauren Desberg<\/em><\/p>\nMany classical artists regularly cross into other musical genres and vice versa…<\/h3>\n