Reviews

Music Director Jayce Ogren leads the Monterey Symphony in a program featuring two gorgeous works by Sibelius. Last month, Ogren opened his concert with the orchestral version of an amuse-bouche, a chef's treat not on the menu. He conducted the ensemble in the beautiful and poignant Valse Triste by Sibelius, not on the program, which whetted the appetite for this month's glorious immersion into the composer's Violin Concerto and 2nd Symphony.

"In April we present a tribute to the great Finnish composer — and personal favorite of mine — Jan Sibelius," says Ogren. "Sibelius's music arrives at universal, eternal truths about nature, spirituality and the human condition through soaring melodies and brilliant orchestral colors. His Violin Concerto is a perpetual audience favorite, and our soloist will be the young American violin virtuoso Tessa Lark."  He describes Lark as one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time, praised for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance.

He says, "We round out the program with Sibelius' inspiring rallying cry for Finnish independence, the Symphony No. 2 in D major."

Lark was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category in 2022 and received a prestigious Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards. Other honors include a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant and she was winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition. She solos regularly with many of the major orchestras around the world, from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to the Seattle Symphony, and has appeared in recital at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Carnegie Hall. Delightfully, Lark is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. Maybe she'll give us a bluegrass encore.   She is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. She plays a ca 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Performances take place at Carmel's Sunset Center on Saturday April 22 at 7:30 and Sunday April 23 at 3 p.m.  For tickets and information, see www.montereysymphony.org or call 646-8511.