Lara St. John

Canadian-born violinist Lara St.John has been described as “something of a phenomenon” by The Strad and a “high-powered soloist” by The New York Times. She has performed as soloist with the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal,Vancouver, Amsterdam, Queensland, Adelaide, Auckland, Tokyo, Kyoto, Shanghai, Hong Kong and São Paulo, as well as the Boston Pops, Royal Philharmonic, NDRSymphony, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, China Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, among many others. Recitals in major concert halls have included New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, Prague, Berlin,Toronto, Montreal, Bogotá, Lima and the Forbidden City. 

Lara manages her own label, Ancalagon, which she founded in 1999. Her Mozart recording won a Juno Award in 2011. In 2014, her Schubert album was chosen as one of “the best CDs of spring” by Der Tagsesspiegel. Her 2016 album of reimagined folkmusic earned a five-star review from All About Jazz. Lara has been featured in People, US News and World Report, NPR’s All Things Considered, CNN, the CBC, the BBC, a Bravo! special and twice on the cover of Strings magazine.

In 2021 she was invested with the Order of Canada, for service to society and innovations that “ignite our imaginations.” Lara began playing the violin when she was two, made her first appearance as soloist with orchestra at age four, and her European debut at 10. She entered the Curtis Institute at 13. Lara owns and performs on the 1779 “Ex-Salubue” Guadagnini.