Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman & Edgar Meyer

Tessa Lark, violin
Joshua Roman, cello
Edgar Meyer, double bass

This collaboration brings together three singular figures in American concert music—virtuoso instrumentalists with fierce classical chops, deep connections to roots and fiddle music, and wide-open artistic sensibilities.

Bass virtuoso and seven-time Grammy award winner Edgar Meyer, genre-crossing Kentucky-born violinist Tessa Lark, and eclectic cellist Joshua Roman take us on an exhilarating romp through selections by Bach and Edgar Meyer, including a brand-new work composed especially for this trio.

Program:
JS BACH Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Major, BWV 1027
EDGAR MEYER  – Trio 1986
EDGAR MEYER  New Trio (2024)
Intermission
EDGAR MEYER  – Trio 1988

Run time: Approximately 2 hours with intermission

Edgar Meyer on the Lark/Roman/Meyer program:
“In 1986-1988 I wrote a series of 3 string trios that I premiered with Daniel Phillips and Carter Brey at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. These were the first longer pieces that I had conceived as such, and they set the tone for my next 4 decades. Only one was partially recorded. After meeting Tessa and Joshua a few years ago, I realized that they were perfect for helping me document this personal milestone. I have now set out to write a new trio for us to “complete the thought.”

Read more:
The Strad’s Thomas May reviews the trio’s concert at the Meany Center for the Arts, University of Washington in Seattle.

Commissioning support provided by:
Aspen Music Festival and School, Robert Spano, Music Director
Big Ears Festival
Cal Performances
Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University
The Lied Center of Kansas – University of Kansas

About the artists:

Violinist Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time, consistently praised by critics and audiences for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance. Increasingly in demand in the classical realm, in 2020 she was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with programming that includes Appalachian and bluegrass music and inspiring composers to write for her. Learn more about Tessa Lark on her website.

Joshua Roman is a cello soloist and composer, hailed for his “effortlessly expressive tone… and playful zest for exploration” (New York Times), as well as his “extraordinary technical and musical gifts” and “blend of precision and almost improvisatory freedom… that goes straight to the heart” (San Francisco Chronicle). His genre-bending programs and wide-ranging collaborations have grown out of an “enthusiasm for musical evolution that is as contagious as his love for the classics” (Seattle Times). Learn more about Joshua Roman on his website.

In demand as both a performer and a composer, Edgar Meyer has formed a role in the music world unlike any other. Hailed by The New Yorker as “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument”, Mr. Meyer’s unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002. Learn more about Edgar Meyer on this website.