Concert Reviews & Articles
St. John made this four-movement piece her own, with a commanding performance built up from long phrases piled one on the other.
TheGlobeAndMail.com January 30, 2012
Lara St. John happens to be a volcanic violinist with a huge, fabulous tone that pours out of her like molten lava. She has technique to burn and plays at a constant high heat. She is uninhibited, sometimes strikingly so.....But what makes her unique is the way she puts everything together. She has utter command of the material and the instrument. And she has seemingly utter spontaneity....
L.A. Times November 15th, 2011
St. John transformed her violin into an instrument of compelling force as she lent her formidable skills to Matthew Hindson's Violin Concerto No. 1, "Australian Postcards."
vcstar.com November 17, 2011
After hearing Lara St. John's West Coast premiere of the Violin Concerto No. 1 "Australian Postcards" by Matthew Hindson
Viollinist.com November 14, 2011
A small smile spread across Lara St. John’s face as she deftly maneuvered through the rapid gyrations in the final movement of Korngold’s Violin Concerto. She — and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra — seemed barely able to suppress the urge to dance.
Princeton Review Oct. 4 2011
Lara St. John, the Canadian-born violin soloist featured at tonight’s Brott Festival concert, transported us to the tents and open fields of a gypsy camp.......We were stunned at her astounding abilities.
Ontario Arts Review Aug 11 2011
Stay where there are songs.” It seems that Canadian violinist Lara St. John took that gypsy proverb to heart, spending three and a half months earlier this year concertizing throughout Australasia.
Hamilton, Ontario, August 4 2011
Stay where there are songs.”The first of the Late Night at the Kildare series of concerts was very interesting, even down to the layout of the Kildare room. As well as rows of seats, there were tables around the room lending something of a club atmosphere to the show. The trio of performers, Lara St. John, Matt Herskowitz and Stephanie Cadman provided an interesting mix of Celtic and classical works. Debussy’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor (his final composition, from 1917) was very interesting, with some really fun-looking moments where Herskowitz was hammering away at the piano, as well as some more characteristically ‘Debussy’ phrases. After this piece, St. John and Herskowitz proceeded to play a piece written by Herskowitz, Freilach No. 19. Apparently the original snippet (from St John’s collection of eastern European and gypsy music) was a Silesian Yiddish tune. This rendition started off with a plaintive violin solo, then went through many changes, including (my terminology) the ‘piano goes mad’ section!
The main focus of the evening was the premiere of John Corigliano’s Stomp!. Corigliano introduced the piece, describing its commission for the Tchaikovsky competition and its roots in his preference for fiddle/bluegrass music. Corigliano explained that traditional fiddle music uses lots of open 5ths, so as a puzzle for the Tchaikovsky competitors, he had the top string tuned such that the interval would be a tritone, and the lower string changed by a minor 3rd (I think I wrote this down correctly!). The result, as played by St. John, had distinctly blues violin overtones in between more traditional sectons. St. John stomped along with the music – not dancing (that was Cadman’s role), just stomping. Apparently she made a DVD for Corigliano, which I hope will be repeated commercially soon as it was a great spectacle!
Equalling the excitement of Stomp! was the following piece, named Cape Breton Bourrée, performed by all 3 musicians. A lively number including Cadman playing the fiddle and dancing simultaneously, the piece had the audience clapping along and whooping at the end. The same goes for the final piece, a ‘strict transfer’ from a 78rpm hammer dulcimer recording of Ca la breaza, a Romanian gypsy tune.
Ottawa Citizen Blog, July 24, 2011
St. John, for whom Pritsker wrote the Suite, brought the necessary intensity and abandon to the Slavic-inspired music.
Edmonton Solstice Festival review in American Record Guide, June 24-26 2011
The applause went on for ages and she came back and treated us to an encore.
Auckland, New Zealand review June 3 2011
In her hands the musical setting became elemental, tapping into a primeval earth energy that transformed the score into something much wilder and more engaging than a conservative recital.
Canberra Daily Times, May 16, 2011
To start, violin soloist Lara St. John gave a magnetic, free-wheeling U.S. premiere performance to a triumphant, half-hour-long violin concerto by Australian composer Matthew Hindson...
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, February 19, 2011
The violin soloist was Lara St. John, whose passionate and riveting performance made the temperature rise, regardless of the season.
Today's Zaman, February 4, 2011
Violinist St. John's recital a style-crossing spectacular
Troy Times Union, November 18, 2010
Violinist St. John probes music's layers
The Troy Daily Gazette, November 15, 2010
Big, Bold Solo Violin Battles Elements and Wins
The Boston Musical Intelligencer, August 2, 2010
Montreal Jazz Fest 2010: Matt Herskowitz at Upstairs
Montreal Gazette, July 5, 2010
Her (St. John's) strong, authoritative yet subtle performance was astonishing in its breadth and variety...
Calgary Herald, May 28, 2010
Classy Approach to Classical Marketing - Violinist St.John creates a stir with approach to image
Calgary Herald, May 27, 2010
It's Hear and Now
Stephen Magazine, Spring 2010
Violinist Lara St. John to Perform Vivaldi Masterpiece with South Florida Symphony
South Florida Gay News, April 19, 2010
ASO's 'Seasons' offered a treat for ears, souls
The Daily Advertiser, February 5, 2010
St John played with a freewheeling panache, slipping on and off the centre of notes as a singer might.
The Strad, January, 2010
Much of the set was silly stuff, in a good way, and a reminder that musical comedy works best when the musicianship is first-rate.
New York Times, September 16, 2009
Violinist Lara St John Keeps Herself Guessing
The Toronto Star, October 22, 2009
An Ode to Australians Displaced by Atomic Testing
Strings Magazine, September 25, 2009
Llewellyn seemed to know the tiniest corners of this gorgeously layered score, though the star of the evening was violinist Lara St. John, who played with such identification that you could momentarily convince yourself she was making it up on the spot.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 23, 2009
Strahlendes Spotlight auf Mendelssohn
Graz Sonntag Kleine Zeitung, July 12, 2009
A Brother and Sister Join to Perform in the Open Air
The New York Times, June 24, 2009
St. John played it all with conviction, and from memory.
The Montreal Gazette, May 15, 2009
St. John gave an intense and passionate performance of the work, eliciting fantastic sound from 1779 "Salabue" Gaudagnini violin on which she currently performs. St. John and the orchestra delivered the complicated Bartok concerto with all its depth, nuance and texture.
The Regina Leader Post, April 6, 2009
Canadian violinist Lara St. John brought a heavy meal to the Barns At Wolf Trap last Friday evening and devoured it before our eyes. Playing with absolute security, and entirely from memory, she delivered the Beethoven 3rd and Bartok 2nd sonatas, the Schönberg Phantasy, a world premiere by Matthew Hindson, her own arrangement of the Liszt "Totentanz," and Ravel's finger-busting "Tzigane" -- a stunning feat.
The Washington Post, March 24, 2009
Violinist, orchestra fling themselves into the universe with abandon
Sarasota Herald Tribune, February 2009
She dominated the platform both physically and virtuosically, and put on a real performance...
THE STRAD, JANUARY 2009
Lara St John really gave herself to the piece and produced as fine a performance as I have ever heard.
Seen and Heard International, November 2008
Salute to Cerones brings volley of violinists
The Plain Dealer Music Critic, July 18, 2008
[Scott and Lara St. John] ventured through the technical thickets with blithe virtuosity...
Lara St John & NAO - ‘in perfect synch’
Ontario Arts Review, July 16, 2008
The pyrotechniques of virtuoso violinist Lara St. John “steeled” the show last night at Steeltown’s Defasco Centre where her towering musical presence girded an amazing evening program of French music.
Violinist wows with skill, charisma
Times Colonist, June 01, 2008
She played Bach with her eyes closed and body loose, as if in musical rapture. Only after the presto in the Partita did St. John pause to breathe: A deep guttural gasp that punctuated her seamless movement from ethereal pure tones to raucous, virtuosic thrashing.
Violinist Lara St. John offered a breathtaking performance of the rarely heard Second Violin Concerto by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Arizona Daily Sun, February 24, 2008
St. John's personal style of complete physical engagement with the music elicited an explosive response from the audience...
Violinist, conductor highlight superb MSO concert
Midland Daily News, February 4, 2008
Acclaimed violinist Lara St. John was superb as she displayed her mastery of the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 at the Saturday night performance at the Midland Center for the Arts
The passion of Lara St. John for classical music made her solo Bach recital memorable
The Gazette (Montreal), December 2007
Best concert of the year..."A close-to-symphonic tone, a personal way with a phrase: Such artistry defeats all questions of historical correctness," wrote I, struggling to deal specifically with playing that seemed global in impact.
Suite proves to be perfect for violinist, symphony
With the violin as her voice, she commands our attention, and the music we hear is the music she would have us hear. Moments of 17th-century reflection are found alongside striking bursts of 20th-century modernism, and both come to our ears convincingly interpreted.
El Paso Times, October 20, 2007
Leonard Bernstein comes alive at Civic Center
Guest violinist Lara St. John received something more than polite applause for her intense solo effort in "The Red Violin."...In some ways, this piece was perfect for this remarkable soloist...
PJStar.com, Sept 17, 2007
Passionate St. John shows her mettle with violin concerto
The Buffalo News Entertainment, July 8, 2007
Lara St. John’s career blossomed in the 1990s, but it took some time for the press and the public to see beyond the statuesque violinist’s early, seductive press photos and to hear that she was actually a high-level artist.
Any remaining doubters should have been convinced Saturday by her performance of the dark and captivatingly lyrical Sibelius Violin Concerto, with good partnership by Franz and the BPO. It’s a work that often contrasts icy upper register serenity with precipitous descents into the violin’s brooding low end, all of which St. John negotiated with great technical skill and searing lyrical intensity.
Violinist brings sensuous soul to exotic eve at orchestra
The Honolulu Star Bulletin, May 6, 2007
...Lara St. John lit sparkles from her 1779 "Salabue" Guadagnini violin with a teasing and witty attitude. I mean "attitude" in a dramatic sense. We could almost see St. John's defiant behavior in her dialogue with the orchestra, in particular when she accentuated her short statements. Her singular interpretation of Mozart's "Turkish" Concerto No. 5 combined Romantic affect and tremendous technical skills. With a mind of her own, she conveyed personality and a distinctive edginess.
"Power and Glory"
Article by Arthur Kaptainis
Montreal Gazette, Feb. 24th, 2007
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