Biography
Violin
Tessa Lark
Tessa Lark was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category, and is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. This season she returns to the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Rochester Philharmonic, and debuts with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she recently toured with bassist Edgar Meyer and cellist Joshua Roman to Cal Performances and the Boston Celebrity Series.
Lark has appeared with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, San Francisco Performances, and numerous summer festivals. Her most recent album, The Stradgrass Sessions, features an all-star roster of collaborators and composers including Edgar Meyer, pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull, and fiddler Michael Cleveland. Her debut recording was the Grammy-nominated SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke and performed with the Albany Symphony.
Lark is a recipient of the Hunt Family Award, one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards, as well as a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant. She was Silver Medalist in the 9th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition. She champions young aspiring artists and supports the next generation of musicians through her work as co-host of NPR’s From the Top and as a mentor and board member of the Irving M. Klein International Strings Competition.
Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her artist diploma at the Juilliard School. She currently plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago. She makes her debut at the San Francisco Symphony with this recital.
Lark has appeared with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, San Francisco Performances, and numerous summer festivals. Her most recent album, The Stradgrass Sessions, features an all-star roster of collaborators and composers including Edgar Meyer, pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull, and fiddler Michael Cleveland. Her debut recording was the Grammy-nominated SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke and performed with the Albany Symphony.
Lark is a recipient of the Hunt Family Award, one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards, as well as a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant. She was Silver Medalist in the 9th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition. She champions young aspiring artists and supports the next generation of musicians through her work as co-host of NPR’s From the Top and as a mentor and board member of the Irving M. Klein International Strings Competition.
Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her artist diploma at the Juilliard School. She currently plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago. She makes her debut at the San Francisco Symphony with this recital.
