Lara St. John is rather a phenomenon in the classical music world. In addition to breaching the Iron Curtain before the age of 18, starting her own independent record label, and performing with her viola player brother, Scott, her latest album, titled Mozart, recently won a Juno Award.
St. John talked to SFCV about her most recent tour, her July 28 date with the San Francisco Symphony (performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons), and what started it all.
Tell me about your 100-day trip to New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore.
The trip was so long. I discovered that it is very hard to be away so far for so long. I mean, I’m used to being on the road all the time, but just knowing it would take me 24 hours to get home if something happens, an emergency or whatever, just the knowledge that I was that far away.… It was fine for about the first seven weeks, then in the eighth week I just wanted to see a kitchen. I just wanted to cook some food for myself! At that point, I had been two months in a hotel room eating out. Of course, people are like, “Oh, you get to eat out all the time.” I’m like, “Oh my gosh, no!” What I really want is a kitchen and I want to cook for myself.
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So, I don’t know. I think I’ve got to sort of cap it at about seven or eight weeks. That being said, I had an amazing time and I met a lot of terrific people and the concerts were great and everything was fantastic and New Zealand was beautiful and Australia’s incredible and all this. But next time, I have to come home for a week in there somewhere.
Were your parents musicians? How did you get your start in music?
Actually, no. [My brother and I are] sort of an anomaly in the music world because most — actually, every other bunch of siblings that we know, both of them play an instrument. It always has to do with the musician parents. And, in our case, it actually doesn’t. My father was a language teacher and a basketball coach, and my mom was a mom. So, there you go. It’s totally out of the blue.… Well, for me, actually, I think what happened was my Mom was kind of getting a little bit anxious with these two toddlers running around. I think she thought my brother needed something extra to do. So she took him off to a little violin lesson and I was just one of those younger sisters that wasn’t going to let my bro’ have anything that I didn’t have. So, I screamed and yelled until I got an even smaller violin at the age of 2½ because my brother was 4, I think, when he started. And then it just kind of went like wildfire after that and we’ve been doing it all our lives. Really, I do not remember a time without the violin. Without music, I guess.
After college, you spent a year abroad in the former Soviet Union. What did you do during that year?
I was supposed to be studying at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, but that was the year before the [Berlin] Wall came down, so it was sort of the calm before the storm. There were so many opportunities to travel within the then-Soviet Union. So, I went to Kazakhstan, I went to Armenia, I went to Georgia. At that time, Yugoslavia was still behind the Iron Curtain, so I went there a couple of times. I went to Hungary. It was such an amazing year — I think, to this day, the best year of my life — and I learned so much at such a young age. So, basically, I traveled. I think I was supposed to study with someone, but that never quite happened.
Really, I do not remember a time without the violin. Without music, I guess.
You play with a lot of different bands and with other instrumentalists, which is uncharacteristic of classical musicians but very normal for jazz players. What do you like about playing with other groups and musicians?
The bulk of what I do, what I’m coming out of San Francisco to do, which is playing a concerto with an orchestra — I’d say that’s about 90 percent of what I do. But I have a polka band, actually, and I also work sometimes with a jazz pianist, Matt Herskowitz. I don’t know. I guess I have a lot of interests and I sort of don’t see why I shouldn’t go and explore that kind of thing. I guess in a way it’s a little bit eclectic. Yeah, because a lot of classical musicians do only that and nothing else. But I don’t know. The world of music is so huge, right? Classical is a small part of that. I’ve always had a little bit of a hobby, actually, of Eastern European folk and gypsy music. So, that’s one of my hobbies and then I have my crazy polka band and sometimes they do stuff with some jazzers. And yeah, it’s great fun. The more you know about different types of music, the more you can bring back to your own. They’re all intertwined. Really, they’re all the same, in essence. So, I learn a lot from every sort of outside project that I take on.
Is your record label really named after your pet iguana?
Yeah. Actually, I have a new iguana now who’s 2 years old and in fact I’m staring at him. This one’s name is Cain, like Cain and Abel. But I started my record label in ’99, just a couple weeks after my iguana died. That was Ancalagon and he was a fantastic iguana, just the most lovely little creature ever. Of course, I was missing him terribly, so I named everything after him.
I guess it [the new label] just came from wanting to have every choice for myself. I wanted to have a choice of what to record, sort of when to do it, who to use, what pictures to use, what artwork — all that kind of stuff. At this point, I think I’ve created a revolution.… I incorporated it and all that, and I’m still solo. It’s my record company. I have eight recordings on it, and three coming next year. I work very hard. And sometimes when you’re sole owner, you’re kind of pretty much sole employee, and then I end up taking off for 99 days, playing way too many concerts and all of a sudden [administrative] stuff doesn’t get done. There was one CD I recorded in January in Berlin, which I really wanted to bring out this summer, but with that crazy trip, there was just no way I could keep on top of it. So, it’ll be coming out early next year. You know, when you have 200 employees, that sort of thing doesn’t happen. Well, actually it does, but at least I have my little “I’m all alone here!” excuse. But, you know, that’s fine. That’s my world. I didn’t grow up in business, so I am constantly learning as I go.
I have a lot of interests and don’t see why I shouldn’t go and explore that kind of thing [polka and jazz].
Tell me about your latest album. I heard it won a Juno Award.
Yeah, yeah. You guys probably know the Junos as the Canadian Grammies. That’s kind of their [name] here in the States, I think. Yeah, it was really nice. Totally unexpected. It happened just as I was leaving from my massive 100-day trip around the world back in March.… [The award was for] the Mozart album I recorded with my brother. We did the Sinfonia Concertante, which is sort of the centerpiece and the whole reason for having done the album. It’s a piece for violin and viola that my brother and I have been playing since we were quite mini. And I think it’s [Mozart’s] greatest concerto and it’s not often done because, you know, violin and viola are sort of a strange combination.
But why?
Well, first, it’s huge. The first movement alone is 15 minutes. You know, it’s one of his most ambitious concerti. I think actually it’s the longest one he ever wrote, as well. The second movement is totally heart-wrenching. I’m a massive fan [of this piece] so I was so happy to be able to record it. It’s cool that it won a prize.
Any upcoming projects we should know about or look for?
Actually, I’m out in California a lot next year, I think. I’m going to be down in Thousand Oaks, which is more the L.A. area, I guess. Then I play with the California Symphony, as well. Yeah, but the San Francisco thing is totally exciting. I’m really looking forward to that next week.
The thing that I just recorded in Berlin is actually the Bach violin and harpsichord sonatas, but with harp: the principal harp player of Berlin Phil. So, that’ll be coming out early next year and that’s really quite something. These are beautiful, incredible sonatas and the harp is such a beautiful instrument and [Marie-Pierre Langlamet] is, like, the best harp player in the world. I was really lucky to have made that happen for my label.… I’m pretty excited. And I executive-produced one [album] with the Knights — them alone. That was pretty interesting.
And then the polka band [recording]. It’s a wedding album, so it’s going to have to come out in wedding season. I think we’re going to have to have a [notice], though: “For the bride and groom with a sense of humor.” It’s hilarious. We spent three days in the studio last week just basically laughing our heads off. It was so much fun. I discovered, with my last polka album, that our biggest fans were actually classical musicians who just needed a great big laugh, and we’re definitely going to give them another now.