Category Archives: Press

02/02/24

By Rick Koster, Day Staff Writer | 2/2/2024 Yes, Caleb Hudson, the highly regarded orchestral trumpeter and piccolo trumpet virtuoso, is aware of “Penny Lane” by the Beatles. But why would anyone ask him such a question? Well, because, arguably, “Penny Lane” contains the most famous piccolo trumpet part in music history: those staccato, planet-orbiting high-note […]

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02/02/24

By Clare Byrne for CT Examiner |  1.29.2024 Trumpeter Caleb Hudson will be the featured guest at Musical Masterworks’ first spring concert on Feb. 3 and 4 at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme. Hudson, a native of Kentucky, has helped reintroduce the trumpet to contemporary audiences. Approaching the trumpet with a vocal-tone warmth […]

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11/05/23

By Tim Leininger for CT Examiner — 11.3.2023 OLD LYME — “Any project like this requires a great deal of trust. We come in not knowing what to expect, but trusting that music is such an unparalleled tool to activate people’s creativity,” said Brad Balliett, a bassoonist for Decoda, a collective of chamber musicians based […]

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10/13/23

By Rick Koster, Day Staff Writer | October 13, 2023 Onstage last year, her first as creative director at Musical Masterworks, violinist/fiddler Tessa Lark would gaze out at the audience during concerts with a sense of excitement, anxiety and, ultimately, reassurance. Yes, the Masterworks programs still consistently sold out the First Congregational Church in Old […]

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10/13/23

Tessa Lark, an acclaimed violinist and the current Artistic Director at Musical Masterworks in Old Lyme, is working tirelessly to maintain classical music’s relevance in the modern era and empower the talented artists she works with. From humble beginnings in Kentucky to studying at The Juilliard School in New York City, Lark’s passion for music […]

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10/12/23

By Rick Koster, Day Staff Writer for The Day, October 11, 2023 The esteemed Musical Masterworks chamber music series opens its 33rd season with concerts Saturday and Sunday in the superb environs of the First Congregational Church in Old Lyme. Tessa Lark, the world-renowned classical violinist and Americana fiddler, returns for her sophomore campaign as […]

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09/27/23

By Clare Byrne for CT Examiner, 9.25.23 The 33rd season of Musical Masterworks will begin on October 14th & 15th at the First Congregational Church in Old Lyme, with violinist Tessa Lark commencing her second season as artistic director. Lark — the first woman director of Musical Masterworks, and a down-to-earth superstar violinist — shared […]

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12/23/22

By Erica Moser for The Day, December 15, 2023 Brad Balliett stood in the gym of Groton’s Subase Youth Center in front of a whiteboard with a picture of a bird Wednesday evening, explaining that the next song the quartet was going to play was one he wrote that he considers “to be a collaboration […]

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10/17/22

October 16, 2022 By Rick Koster for The Day  |  r.koster@theday.com The evolution of classical music is categorized by distinctive periods. The Renaissance lasted roughly 200 years, from 1400 to 1600. The Baroque movement took place from 1600 to 1750, and the Romantics reigned from 1830 to 1900. Oh, and the 20th Century lasted, ah, […]

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04/29/22

By Rick Koster, The Day, April 29, 2022 Presumably, like all humans, Edward Arron has bad days. But in numerous in-depth interviews over the course of 13-plus years — the time he’s spent creatively and lovingly curating the Musical Masterworks chamber music series in Old Lyme’s First Congregational Church — Arron has consistently been buoyant, cheery, positive […]

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