This young woman's music will help save and bring new
faces to many record (cd) shops and to Symphonic Halls.

In addition to her concert performances, St. John already has earned critical raves for her concert performances and her two recordings of Bach's music in its traditional setting. England's Gramophone wrote of her recording of Bach concertos, "It is difficult to argue with such a technically dazzling and unfailingly musical interpretation." The Los Angeles Times writes that St. John "brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion."

All these qualities make Lara St. John an ideal collaborator for the innovations of Re: Bach. With producer/arranger Brian Gascoigne, English composer Magnus Fiennes uses world-music, jazz and contemporary pop sounds and rhythms to create a new context for the Bach selections chosen with St. John, many of which are rarely heard melodies by the composer. Tabia virtuoso Trilok Gurtu and legendary pedal steel guitarist B.J. Cole are among the instrumentalists who contribute to the unique sounds Fiennes and Gascoigne have created for Re: Bach. Titles for the tracks on Re: Bach hint at their origins, but also reflect the character of the
arrangements. They include "Largo," "Tocceilidh," "Goldberg 2," "Duetto," "Echo," "The Sicilian," "Bombay Minor," "Recit," "aria," "Fugue," "Double," "Gigue," "Prelude," "Ten Fifty Two" and "BADinerie."

"I think what Bach wrote is so strong that it welcomes any kind of treatment," St. John says. "Everyone working on this record has a huge respect for his music. I think that comes through. There is so much intellectual force behind everything that he wrote.

What we have done is simply make it different, and yet Bach speaks very powerfully through everything we've done. In the track we've titled 'Double,' for instance, we didn't touch Bach's top line, bass line and chordal structure, and it really does sound like Latin jazz! The guy was so timeless that it's easy to work with what he wrote."

"There really is no 'bad' Bach out there," she adds.  "His music lends itself to transcriptions and arrangements better than anything else because its high quality is so unique. You couldn't transcribe, say, the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto for the guitar; it wouldn't sound good. But transcribe a Bach keyboard prelude for violin, tabia, marimba
etc., and it works. Magnus really has brought a modern perspective to this music. I think the modem sound is going to make it feel more familiar to the casual listener than a Baroque string orchestra. There's a world-beat feel to some tracks, a cool vibe, a Celtic energy - I don't think anybody could listen to this and not like a lot of it."

Re: Bach, featuring violinist Lara St. John, will be featured on www.sonyclassical.com. Sony Classical.com is an online resource for exploring the label's entire catalogue of recordings, and includes sound clips, track listings, cover art and other information about
the recordings.  The site also features an online radio show, album supersites, multimedia, artist biographies, tour schedules and discographies for all Sony Classical artists, as well as special promotions, and much more.

Hailed as "something of a phenomenon" by The Strad, the Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John begins an exclusive relationship with Sony Classical with the Spring 2003 release of her first recording for the label, featuring bold and innovative arrangements of the music of J.S. Bach that reframe it in new soundscapes that draw on jazz, world and pop influences. The recording brings St. John together with English composer/producer Magnus Fiennes and arranger Brian Gascoigne, along with such unusual guest artists as      the Indian tabia virtuoso Trilok Gurtu and pedal steel guitar legend B.J. Cole. For Sony Classical, the violinist will record both core classical and contemporary crossover material.

When The Strad named Lara St. John one of "the stars of the next decade," it called her "an electrifying player, as deeply satisfying in Bach as she is bewitchingly seductive in  Waxman's Carmen Fantasy." The New York Times has praised her "brilliant ferocity," and the Chicago Tribune saluted her "superb technique and irresistible vitality." Lara St. John has performed as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, the NDR, the Tokyo Symphony, and the Franz Liszt chamber orchestra, among many others, and in recitals around the world. "St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion," wrote the Los Angeles Times.

Highlights of the past few seasons include appearances with the New Jersey Symphony under Hugh Wolff, the Tokyo Symphony under Paavo Jarvi, the Cincinnati Symphony under Carlos Kalmar, the Seattle and Honolulu symphonies, the NDR Hanover, the Hong       Kong Philharmonic, the Sao Paulo Symphony, the Shanghai Broadcasting orchestra, the orchestras of Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton, and the Opera de Marseilles, among many others. She also played recitals at the Ravinia Festival, New York's Miller Theater, in Montalvo CA, in Montreal and Quebec, and throughout China.

During the 2003 season, the violinist appears both as recitalist and as soloist with orchestras across North America, including the Boston Pops at Tanglewood, the symphony orchestras of Delaware, Portland, and Knoxville, the Florida Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony and Northwest Sinfonietta, among others. St. John will also undertake a nationwide US recital tour during the season.

Lara St. John's first recording, Bach Works for Violin Solo, has sold over 30,000 copies and received resounding worldwide acclaim. Reviewing her second album, Gypsy, Gramophone called her performance "a sizzling display," and the Montreal Gazette       headlined its review, "Lara St John is out on the edge - with captivating results." In January 2002, she released her third CD on her own label, Ancalagon Records - Bach: The Concerto Album. Once again she drew enthusiastic reviews, with Gramophone       placing the disc in its strongly recommended section, adding, "It is difficult to argue with such a technically dazzling and unfailingly musical interpretation."

Winner of several international violin competitions, St. John was granted, in 1997, the use of the 1702 Lyall Stradivarius for two years from the Canada Council for the Arts and an anonymous donor. Upon hearing her audition, the panel of judges exclaimed, "Today we
have heard one of the great violinists of our time! Inspirational." Currently, she performs on the 1779 "Salabue" Guadagnini thanks to an anonymous donor and HeinI & Co. of Toronto.

Lara St. John began playing the violin when she was two years old. She made her first solo appearance with orchestra at age of five and made her European debut five years later with Lisbon's Gulbenkian Orchestra. She toured Spain, France, Portugal and Hungary at ages 12 and 13, entered the Curtis Institute at 14, and spent her first summer at the Marlboro Festival three years later.

Graduating from Curtis when she was 17, Lara St. John traveled to Moscow to expand her horizons. At the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, she discovered that her teacher and many others were indefinitely extending their visits to the West. Being without a teacher for the   first time gave her the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. She also spent two years at the Guildhall School in London. Over the years, her teachers have included Linda Cerone, David Takeno, Arnold Steinhardt,        Felix Galimir and Joey Corpus.  Away from music, Lara St. John is a great fan of J.R.R. Tolkien (from long ago), Michael Moore, reptiles and the American Museum of Natural History. She now lives in New York City. Her Web site is www.larastjohn.com.