'Cedar & Sage' - Tessa Lark & Michael Thurber

'Cedar & Sage' written and performed by Tessa Lark & Michael Thurber. Filmed live at Joe's Pub NYC on May 16th, 2019.

About Tessa Lark & Michael Thurber...

Award-Winning Violinist Tessa Lark and virtuoso Composer/Bassist Michael Thurber have come together to create a duo unlike any other. By fusing their influences of Classical music, Jazz and Bluegrass, they have created a wholly original sound which they bring to audiences around the country in a charismatic live show. Upcoming season highlights include a headlining performance at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival; a Kimmel Center (Philadelphia) debut concert collaborating with legendary flautist Marina Piccinini; and guest-hosting a live broadcast of NPR’s ‘From The Top’.

Lark & Thurber met years ago as alumni of ‘From The Top’ and have grown their duo collaboration out of the eclectic musical variety show series “Thurber Theater,” which Michael regularly hosts at beloved New York City nightclub Joe’s Pub. Building on the massive success of these intimate and varied musical evenings at Joe’s Pub, Lark and Thurber are now a full-fledged entity of their own.

“This duo is a place for us to explore our varied musical influences” explains Lark. “I grew up in Kentucky playing bluegrass long before I started my career as a classical musician, so I’ve always longed for an outlet to integrate my American music roots into my performances”. Thurber adds, “Our diverse musical appetite is what has always drawn Tessa and I together. The fiddle and bass are both such versatile instruments that have played vital roles in so many different musical traditions around the world. It feels very natural to explore the full range of our musical heritage and not be bound by genre”.

Prior to forming their duo, both Lark and Thurber have enjoyed successful careers of their own. Tessa earns consistent praise from critics and audiences alike for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, captivating interpretations, and multi-genre programming and performance. In the classical music world, Tessa has earned many of the top competition prizes available to young artists including, among many others: a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medal in the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and a First-Place finish in the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition.

Michael has a reputation as one of the most versatile young musical talents currently active in New York City. Whether playing bass on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, composing music for the Royal Shakespeare Company, co-founding the smash YouTube channel CDZA, or hosting his “Thurber Theater” variety show at Joe’s Pub, Thurber’s musical voice defies genre and category.

In their respective careers thus far, Tessa and Michael have had the privilege of collaborating with some of the world’s leading musicians in a wide variety of genres -- to name just a few: Mitsuko Uchida, Itzhak Perlman, and Mark O’Connor (Tessa), and Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, Vulfpeck, Jon Batiste and Cee Lo Green (Michael).