Lara St. John on Empowerment and the Making of Dear Lara
Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman
12/06/25
•62m
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Violinist Lara St. John joins me to discuss her upcoming documentary Dear Lara, her remarkable career, and her ongoing work to ensure a safe and inclusive music community . Lara’s creativity, warmth, humour and brilliance come through in this wide-ranging interview and you’ll hear about her decision to become the first classical soloist to start her own record label, her formative year in the former USSR, advice about learning music and the violin, and a tribute to one of her main mentors, Joey Corpus. In fact Joey’s amazing story wasn’t one I was familiar with and since this conversation I’ve learned more about this inspiring pedagogue. We talked about two of her many albums, and you’ll hear a couple of clips from Shiksa and She/Her/Hers; track names are in the timestamps and everything is linked to Lara’s website in the show notes. Lara is also known for her love for iguanas, and at the very beginning of this episode you’ll get to meet Baby Octavius!
Trigger warning: Please note that there are detailed timestamps below, so you can go to specific parts of this interview; there are mentions of both sexual assault and a suicide attempt
Complete Show Notes with linked episodes, newsletter, podcast merch and more!
Varaiuni Bar Fight video on Lara's channel
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Timestamps: (00:00) Intro with mention of sexual abuse (trigger warning) (03:10) meeting the Caribbean iguana Baby Octavius (04:59) Order of Canada, meeting other celebrities for Canadian Thanksgiving (06:28) the story of Moishe the violin, klezmer (09:48) about album Shiksa with clip from The Pain Will Find Us (14:17) “Dear Lara” film, trigger warning mention of rape (27:16) changing perspectives on her career (32:27) other linked episodes and supporting this podcast (33:16) perspectives on children in music, competitions (35:36) U.S.S.R. experience (38:18) her record label Ancalogon, album She/Her/Hers women composers with clip of Ana Sokolović Danza 2 (42:55) adjusting repertoire, Gabriela Lena Frank with clip of Luciérnagas (46:40) clip of video Variaiuni Bar Fight from Shiksa, linked in show notes (47:54) first trip to Peru, brief reference to suicide attempt (49:16) Marlboro, Felix Galimir (53:06) Joey Corpus violin pedagogue, portato problems, final reflections on film making and career direction
photo: Titolayo Ayangade
Previous Episode
Ben Garnett: Crafting Acoustic Beauty on Kite's Keep
November 29, 2025
•67m
Guitarist Ben Garnett has released a beautiful new album, Kite’s Keep, and this episode features clips and insights from the project. The record includes collaborations with acoustic music greats familiar to listeners of this podcast, including Darol Anger and Brittany Haas. Ben’s mentor, Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers, also appears, and Ben discusses the wisdom he’s gained from other influential musicians in his life, among them his cousin, acclaimed rock guitarist Andy Timmons, the brilliant Julian Lage, and bandleader Missy Raines. He also talks about how playing tuba was helpful, and how he immersed himself in a range of musical styles—studying jazz in university before finding his way into Nashville’s acoustic bluegrass scene.
Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on many podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript. It’s a joy to bring these inspiring episodes to you every week, and I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Have a look at the show notes of this episode, where you’ll find all the links, including different ways to support this podcast! In the show notes I"ve also linked other episodes which I think may interest you: with Darol Anger, Brittany Haas, Marc van Vugt, Tal Yahalom and Alisa Rose
Complete Show Notes with ALL LINKS!
(00:00) Intro
(01:57) Kite’s Keep album, Brittany Haas, Darol Anger, clip Look Again
(06:59) Darol Anger, clip Tell Me About You
(10:07) album cover, photo by Emilio Mesa
(11:35) tuba, music education
(13:43) Andy Timmons
(19:11) Julian Lage
(24:25) Chris Eldridge, producing 1st album Imitation Fields, clip of Post Office Prodigies
(29:09) Julian Lage, Chris “Critter” Eldridge
(34:20) other linked episodes and ways to support this project
(35:09) jazz, Chris Eldridge, Paul Kowert, Ethan Jodziewicz, clip of The Clockmaker
(40:33) love of movies, Bluegrass, Missy Raines
(51:13) touring strategies, Ben’s guitars
(56:25) Celia Hill, clip A Place for the In Between, Matt Glassmeyer
(01:00:14) teaching, clip the end of Somewhere Near Hope, next projects
photo: Natia Cinco
Next Episode
Lena Jonsson Swedish Fiddler on Folk Covers
December 12, 2025
•77m
The Swedish fiddler Lena Jonsson has created a unique style inspired by traditional Swedish music as well as many other influences. Today we’re focusing on the wonderful 3rd album by her trio, “Folk Covers” which celebrates many great folk music composers of today. I think you’ll really enjoy this uplifting conversation which features a lot of music, including Lena giving us some spontaneous house concert experiences, and clips from the new album, with insights into process of curating and interpreting these folk covers; please note the timestamps have the tune names. You’ll also learn about the Swedish folk scene and regional differences, her experiences studying both in Sweden and Boston at Berklee, her love of creative design and how to dance a Polska. I want to let you know that I’m going to be taking a short break for a couple of weeks, but I’m very excited to bring you Season 6 of this podcast at the beginning of January 2026!
Complete Show Notes for this Episode!
photo: Klara Granberg
(00:00) Intro
(02:16) album Folk Covers, with clip of Äntligen!
(04:33) childhood musical family in Hälsingland Sweden
(10:28) microtonality and ornamentation in Swedish fiddling with Silkesvalsen
(13:25) fiddling, duo with Brittany Haas
(16:33) Four Minute Love Story with clip “Neljän Minuuttin rakkaus” Johanna Jukola
(18:44) arranging, curating with Erik Ronström and Krydda Sundström with clip of Fortcalquier by Genticorum
(22:29) first Canadian tour, Blue Skies festival
(24:26) teaching folkhögskola, Berklee experience
(30:22) Burdland, cover of Kinnaris with clip, Norwegian hardanger fiddle influence
(34:51) learning from archival recordings
(37:23) other linked episodes and ways to support this series
(38:10) experience studying in Stockholm
(42:00) Bubbles in Central Park with clip, how to dance a Polska
(47:58) how to pronounce Lena and bits of Swedish culture, and clip of Unless/The Tobagganist by Hawktail
(54:58) love of design and fashion, duo with Johanna Juhola
(59:00) Morgenslått with clip, memorizing music
(01:03:01) Erik Rydvall nyckelharpa, Midsummer, great fiddle teachers
(01:07:33) harpist Maeve Gilchrist, clip of Brenda's Abbey, how the trio got started
(01:12:09) composing with performance of Ispolskan
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