The Boston Globe, April 8, 2000

Lara St. John sure, fluent with Bach

The identity Lara St. John was revealing here was that of a violinist with a complete and absolutely assured virtuoso technique, solid musical instincts, projection, and taste.

The sound was often strong and gorgeous [...], but never insistently or mechanically so. There was a nice play of light and shade in her tonal palette. Physicality it certainly had, but in all the right ways - as if an easy spring in the step were keeping rhythm and phrasing alive as we were taken from place to place in Bach's marvelous web of designs.

This violinist's intonation seemed as sure as one will ever hear it in this life. Whether the matter at hand was austere, intricate, gently lyrical, or mighty and majestic - even a brass choir was subtly evoked - clarity always reigned.