By Clare Byrne for CT Examiner, 10/5/2024 Musical Masterworks will feature the expressive continuum of the human voice on October 12th and 13th at the First Congregational Church in Old Lyme, mixing songs of love across centuries, from the opera Pagliacci to the American standard “Frankie and Johnny.” Artistic Director Tessa Lark, with guest artist Nathan Farrington, […]
moreBy Rick Koster | Day Arts/Features writer, 4.24.2024 Dear Musical Masterworks: How is it already the end of another season?! BACK UP! Elsewhere in these pages, I already used this amusing “farewell letter” gambit for the campaign-ending concert by the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra. But it’s true both elite musical organizations are ending up their […]
moreBy 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 […]
moreBy 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 […]
moreBy 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 […]
moreBy 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 […]
moreTessa 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 […]
moreBy 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 […]
moreBy 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 […]
moreBy 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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