Ravinia 2023 Issue 6

BENJAMIN ALLEN TRUE TRADITION TESSA LARK EXPLORES THE FORMIDABLE FLEXIBILITY OF FIDDLING BYDONALDLIEBENSON THERE I S A MOMENT of sheer infectious joy on Ravinia Steans Music Institute alum Tessa Lark’s most recent album, The Stradgrass Sessions . There are several, actually, but one that stands out comes at the end of “Hysedelje,” a fiddle tune composed by Lark that is more (blue)grass than Strad(ivarius). At the end, she emits a “whoop” that evokes her Richmond, KY, roots as the daughter of a bluegrass musician. “It was a spur of the moment,” she told Ravinia . “Culturally, it is something you might do after playing a fiddle tune.” She added with a laugh, “You can take the girl out of Kentucky—” Lark credits bassist, composer, and fiancé Michael Thurber for coming up with the genre-blending term “Stradgrass.” It came at a point when everything in Lark’s life was in flux. She had graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music and, after nine years in Boston, was gearing up to move to New York City, where she was giving a classical recital at that critical moment. At the concert’s conclusion, she brought out Thurber, her banjo-player father, and another friend to perform a folk song. She was playing a Strad- ivarius on loan to her from having won the silver medal at the Interna- tional Violin Competition of India- napolis in 2014. “I announced to the audience that it felt a little sacrilegious to play fiddle music on the Strad,” she recalled. “Michael jumped in and said, ‘Strad Grass.’ I loved that so much, and over time it became a perfect term for this musical exploration. Bluegrass has been and will forever be a part of my life.” She added, “I didn’t really have qualms about playing bluegrass on the Stradivarius. It just seemed like the right thing to say at a classical recital. That Strad made a mean fiddle.” RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 28 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2023 10