June 19, Cincinnati, OH – Starling Project Foundation is proud to announce that Tessa Lark, violin student of Kurt Sassmannshaus in CCM’s  Starling Project from 2001 to 2006, won the First Prize in the the 2012 Naumburg Violin Competition in New York on Wednesday, June 12, 2012. Her prize includes two fully subsidized concerts in New York City; concert engagements with orchestra and in recital throughout the United States and Puerto Rico; and a cash award of $10,000.

Second prize was awarded to Elly Suh, a native of Korea who received her bachelor and master degrees at Juilliard and a professional studies certificate from Manhattan School of Music; and third prize to Kristin Lee, from Korea and a Juilliard graduate, who is on faculty at Queens College. Ms. Suh receives a cash award of $5,000 and Ms. Lee a cash award of $2,500.

The jury for the 2012 Naumburg Violin Competition included John Corigliano, Leonidas Kavakos, Masao Kawasaki, Nicholas Mann, Robert Mann, Elmar Oliveira, Mark Sokol, Joel Smirnoff, and Peter Winograd.  Among past winners of the Naumburg Violin Award are Leonidas Kavakos, Robert Mann, Elmar Oliveira, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Joseph Silverstein and Peter Winograd.

Tessa Lark, First Prizewinner

Tessa Lark, a Kentucky native, began her violin studies at age 6. She joined the Starling Preparatory String Project at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in 2001, where she studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus. Ms. Lark has toured nationally and internationally as a violin soloist.  At age 16, she performed the Mozart Violin Concerto in G Major with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  With the Starling Chamber Orchestra, she has performed as both concertmaster and soloist at the Kennedy Center and in Europe, China and Russia. She can be seen on Prof. Sassmannshaus’ violin teaching website violinmasterclass.com. Tessa attended the first season of the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing in 2005.

She entered the New England Conservatory in the fall of 2006 where she studied with Miriam Fried and Lucy Chapman.  Other orchestras that she has appeared with as soloist include the Santa Cruz Symphony, Peninsula Symphony, Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Chinese Opera and Ballet Symphony OrchestraWith the NEC Orchestra she performed the Walton Violin Concerto as winner of the School’s 2010 Violin Concerto Competition.

In addition, she has been showcased on the radio broadcasted Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series, the Chamber Music Tulsa series, and the Caramoor Wednesday Morning Concert series.  Ms. Lark is also an avid chamber musician and has participated in the Music in the Vineyards Festival and Caramoor’s Rising Star series.  She has attended many summer festivals including Yellow Barn, Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival, and the Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Music Workshop and will be participating this summer in the 2012 Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute concert tour.  Among renowned artists that she has collaborated with include Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Pamela Frank, Ralph Kirshbaum, Timothy Eddy and Ronald Thomas.   Keeping in touch with her Kentucky roots, Tessa enjoys performing bluegrass music and has played with her father’s gospel bluegrass band, Narrow Road, since age 8.  She recently performed with the Boston Children’s Chorus as a bluegrass fiddler.  Tessa Lark plays a Tononi violin on generous loan from the Ravinia Festival.