Lara St. John

“Bach is like a god to me. His music is the most purely spiritual and human thing all at once.”

“I was always a bit of a rebel. I didn't fit into the traditional classical music box.”

“You have to have a certain amount of chutzpah to get up on a stage and play a piece of wood with four strings and expect people to listen.”

“The violin is my voice. It's the way I express the things I can't say.”

“I don't believe in genres. I believe in good music.”

“I see music as a way of telling a story without words.”

“The sound of a violin can be so many things – it can scream, it can cry, it can sing.”

“I'm not a purist. I don't think there's only one way to play something.”

“Practicing is not about perfection, it's about discovery.”

“My record label, Ancalagon, is about artistic freedom. It's about making the music I want to make, how I want to make it.”

“When I'm on stage, it's not about me. It's about the music and the connection with the audience.”

“Every performance is different because every audience is different. They give you an energy that changes everything.”

“To play an instrument, you have to be an athlete, a mathematician, and a poet.”