The Louisville Orchestra will thank its donors with a special concert on December 5 at the Brown Theatre. The program is free for supporters of the season, but all are welcome to make a donation at the door in lieu of tickets. Led by music director Jorge Mester, the program will feature Gioachino Rossini's Overture to The Barber of Seville, Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor and Wolfgang Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor. Joining the orchestra for the evening is award-winning violinist Tessa Lark, who will perform the Mendelssohn concerto. Lark, 23, is a recent graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the 2012 winner of the prestigious Walter W. Naumberg International Violin Competition. Lark has made a name for herself internationally, winning the top American prize at the 2009 Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand and top honors in the 2006 Johansen International Strings Competition.Lark began studying violin at age 6, and at 11, she became a student in the Starling Preparatory String Project at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She has played with symphonies across the country, toured Europe and served as a featured soloist for the at the Forbidden City Concert Hall with the Beijing Symphony. A native of Eastern Kentucky, Lark also plays fiddle with the bluegrass gospel band Narrow Road. Here's Lark playing Gabriel Faure's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 at the New England Conservatory in April:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP81qRPKiZ4βAnd Lark at the same concert, showing off her fiddle chops with banjo player Bob Frederick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWS-hbT01D0
