Violinist Tessa Lark dazzles with Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra

Jun 12, 2024

It was hard to imagine how violinist Tessa Lark could top her impressive performance of Michael Torke’s “Sky,” a violin concerto he wrote for her, in her Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra debut Aug. 26. But for an encore, she dazzled even more with an improvisation that she had just invented. Based on a theme from a sonata by Belgian violin legend Eugène Ysaÿe, it was a showstopper full of technical feats and bluegrass licks. She called it “Ysaÿe Shuffle.”

Eckart Preu and the Chamber Orchestra concluded their Summermusik festival Aug. 26 on a theme of “Americana.” Lark’s fusion of classical and bluegrass fiddling was just the thing to cap an imaginative season that has traveled from Beethoven and Bach to Afro-Cuban.

For this all-American program at the School for Creative and Performing Arts, Preu added works by rising star Jessie Montgomery and ragtime composers Scott Joplin and James Reese Europe. The afternoon concluded with Leonard Bernstein’s jazzy ballet score, “Fancy Free,” enhanced by three dancers from Revolution Dance Theatre.

Torke wrote “Sky” in 2018 after composing a solo piece for Lark to play at Carnegie Hall. The bluegrass-inspired concerto was commissioned by a consortium of 10 orchestras.

Kentucky bluegrass is in Lark’s DNA. The native of Richmond, Ky., grew up playing fiddle with her dad on banjo. But she was also a classical phenom. At age 11, her parents were driving her up Interstate 75 to study violin in the Starling program for vastly talented youth at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Her versatility has allowed her to find a unique niche in the concert landscape. Lark coined the term “Stradgrass” – which is also the title of her latest album – while playing bluegrass on her “Ex-Gingold” Stradivarius, then on loan to her after winning silver in the Indianapolis International Violin Competition in 2014. On Aug. 26, she was playing bluegrass on a circa 1600 G.P. Maggini violin, on loan to her from the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Torke’s “Sky” was a scintillating work, and perfectly tailored to Lark’s artistry. The composer took his inspiration from banjo-picking technique in “Lively,” the first movement. Lark tore up the stage with her fiddling and climbed mountains of technical challenges like a breath of fresh air.

It was clear that Torke’s orchestral canvas was inspired not only by the mountains of Kentucky but also by Aaron Copland’s wide-open harmonies. The collaboration was dynamic, rhythmic and propulsive and the movement ended with solo violin and tambourine.

The violin tunes in the slow movement, “Wistful,” had the plaintive sound of Irish reels, the forerunner, Torke pointed out in his notes, of American bluegrass. Lark soared through its lyrical phrases with beautiful tone. For the finale, a dazzling perpetual motion titled “Spirited,” the violinist dug into her strings and flew through cascades of flourishes. It was fun to hear dialogues along the way, which included left-hand pizzicatos by the violinist answered with slurs in the trombone and stomps in the orchestra.

The orchestra’s playing was energized throughout the piece, and Preu was attentive to every phrase. The audience approved enthusiastically.

Preu opened the program with “Castle House Rag,” a terrific ragtime piece by African American composer James Reese Europe. The composer and bandleader promoted Black musicians in New York City early in the 20th century and established a band called the Hell Fighters while serving as a lieutenant in World War I.

Montgomery wrote her “Banner” in 2014 for string quartet (performed here by the CCO’s principal string players) and orchestra. She wrote the piece in tribute to the 200th anniversary of Francis Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner,” aiming to write an anthem for a multicultural America. Into its melting pot, she wove other anthems and American folk songs, with the “Star-Spangled Banner” serving as its backbone. It was dissonant and angular, and there were moments – such as one including at least six tunes together – that evoked Charles Ives. The orchestra’s momentum sagged through the sometimes dense writing, and it was sometimes hard to pick out the threads of a melody.

After intermission, it was a treat to hear the Overture to “Treemonisha” (1910), Joplin’s almost forgotten masterpiece, which won him a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.

The afternoon concluded with Bernstein’s “Fancy Free” of 1944, in an arrangement by Garth Sunderland. The orchestra was joined by members of Revolution Dance Theatre, a relatively new company under artistic director David Choate, Jr. He founded it in 2017 to provide a stage for Black and brown dancers, and training for minority students.

Dancer/choreographer Jerome Robbins’ original scenario was of three sailors on shore leave in Manhattan, prowling for girls. Three accomplished dancers – Asya Graves, Juliana Kinamore and Antonio White – came out with cartwheels, high kicks and leaps. The vibrant choreography was both athletic and graceful, and wonderfully tuned in to Bernstein’s music. One of the highlights was a pas de deux, which included beautiful lifts. The dancers made ballet steps and somersaults look easy. The orchestra sounded polished in Bernstein’s tuneful, jazzy music.

For a surprise encore, Preu led the orchestra in Gershwin’s “Summertime,” from “Porgy and Bess,” and Lark returned to the stage to add some irresistible improvisations on her violin.

The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra will celebrate its 50th anniversary in the 2024 Summermusik season. Details will be announced later.

Janelle Gelfand covers the arts for the Courier. Her work is supported by the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.