Articles


Globe and Mail, August 10, 2002
Wild child with a violin
by Sarah Hampson

"It's not every day that SARAH HAMPSON meets a chain-smoking, iguana-loving musician who can discuss anything from Shakespeare to The Lord of the Rings."


Flare Magazine, May 2002
Buzz
by Jennie Punter

"Her dazzling playing has convinced even the stuffiest critics she's one to watch."


Billboard, April 28, 2002
The Classical Score
by Steve Smith

"Canadian violinist Lara St. John was a name well-known to classical music consumers well before she signed to Sony Classical this month. "


Fashion Toronto, April 2001
Classical Beauties
by Andrew Borkowski

"If I have a certain image it's because that's just the way I am. Subtlety in any area of life has never been my strong point."


Toronto Sun, February 21, 2001
Sex and Violins
by Sandy Naiman

"She's a brilliant pragmatist and a pioneer, determined to seduce new young audiences into listening to her music using the sizzling language they'll understand."


Sunday Mail (Scotland), January 14, 2001
Lara: It's good to be back
by Steven Hendryla

"Sexy violinist Lara St. John shocked the American establishment with her air-on-a-G-string approach to classical music."


Gear Magazine, July/August 2000
Sex and Violins
by Michael Martin

"Classical beauties, and all of them come with strings attached"


Edmonton Sun, May 27, 2000
Tell Lara we love her
by John Charles

Organizations keep asking her for works she's not yet played, but she usually says yes. "I'm kind of a sucker, and love learning new pieces," she said.

see also See Magazine, May 25, 2000


La Scena Musicale, April 1, 2000
Lara St. John's Passion
by Seth Cooper

"I moved to New York because I liked it here and I was tired of moving around," St. John explains. A schedule of 70 concerts a year around the world leaves her little time in any one place, so she's always happy to return to New York. "I love meeting new people all the time and being in different cities - it's exciting."


The Strad, January 2000
A galaxy of promise

"An electrifying player, as deeply satisfying in Bach as she is bewitchingly seductive in Waxman's 'Carmen' Fantasy, St. John is something of a phenomenon."


Palm Beach Illustrated, November 1999
First Fiddle
by Nancy Jaslow Bader

"St. John is a study in contrasts. Off-stage, her style is Bohemian, embellished by long, flowing tresses and a nearly 6-ft. frame. When she‘s per forming, her hair is pulled back, instantly creat ing an aura of sophistication. She admits, it‘s not for image so much as to keep the hair away from her violin bow."


Time Out New York, July 15-22, 1999
Sex and violins
by Susan Jackson

"Getting classical music out there is one of St. John's missions. 'For a lot of years, this music has been seen as elitist - people think you need a Ph.D. to understand it,' she says."


Chatelaine, June 1999
Lara's themes
by Shawna Steinberg

"She's difficult. She's a perfectionist. And she's a canny businesswoman who uses her looks to sell CDs. But most of all, Lara St. John is a violin virtuoso whose passion is only eclipsed by her style."


Orange County Register, December 6, 1998
PROFILE: Her sexy album covers draw attention to Lara St. John, but so does her skill
by Scott Timberg

"I cannot remember a life without the violin," she says. "Whether that's good or bad I don't know. Since I grew up with the violin it's like an extra arm or an appendage."


Toronto Star, November 5, 1998
Violinist Lara St. John trying to bring Bach and friends to a younger crowd
by Peter Goddard

"By 17, after graduating from Curtis, she went to Moscow for further studies. But early on she realized she didn't like her teacher at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. So she put the fiddle on the shelf, picked up whatever jobs she could and had the best year of her life."


MENZ, Fall 1998
Nothing to Hide
by Bruce Culp

"What am I supposed to do?" asks St. John. "Wear a paper bag over my head? I certainly don't have to hide things."


Willamette Week, May 27, 1998
Raw Talent
by James McQuillen

"Lara St. John, famous for Bach interpretations and risqué album covers, releases a new record of Gypsy music."


Ottawa Citizen, March 15, 1998
Fiddling with Passion
by Richard Perry

"Lara St. John's playing lives up to her come-hither image"


The Hamilton Spectator, July 5, 1997
'Jailbait' St. John bows into town
by Hugh Fraser

"I was called a bedraggled nymphet by someone who must have had a hard life with his name - I believe he was called Lloyd Dick," Lara chuckles.


People Magazine, February 24, 1997
Bare Bach

"Her mission, she says, is to persuade young audiences to share her love of the three B's: Bach, Beavis and Butthead."