Tessa Lark, a regular at Moab Music Festival since her 2016 debut, was named its artistic director in an announcement dated January 6, 2025. The 2012 Naumburg violin winner took on the artistic responsibilities of co-founders Michael Barrett and Leslie Tomkins, who became directors emeriti.
Moab audiences had heard Lark’s classical and bluegrass interests together the previous season, when she performed music from The Stradgrass Sessions. Raised in Kentucky, she has continued to play fiddle music alongside her concerto and chamber music engagements.
The Utah festival places musicians in settings well beyond a conventional recital hall. Its signature grotto concerts take listeners by jet boat along the Colorado River; other events involve hikes and rafting trips. Lark’s appointment put a musician familiar with those settings in charge of planning what audiences would hear there.
Read the appointment announcement or browse the festival’s press archive.
