Augusta McKay Lodge – violin

Augusta McKay Lodge, “the real thing, a true virtuoso” and “an exceptional violinist” (Seen and Heard International), enjoys a flourishing career as an international prize-winning baroque and modern violinist based in New York and Paris. She has had solo appearances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully, Kennedy Center, Concertgebouw, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Kosciuszko Foundation, the French Consulate in NYC, and more, and performed concertos with Juilliard415 and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra. Recently, she gave a solo performance of Handel’s Violin Sonatas alongside William Christie. As a creative director, McKay Lodge founded her own ensemble Voyage Sonique. 

McKay Lodge has claimed grand prizes in Concert Artists International, Juilliard’s Historical Performance Concerto Competition, the Indianapolis Baroque Concerto Competition, and placed as semifinalist in Le Concours Corneille (France), International Musica Antiqua Competition, and finalist in the 2016 International Indianapolis Baroque Concerto Competition. Her ensemble Voyage Sonique placed second in the international Lyceum Club de Suisse Concours de Musique.

McKay Lodge’s debut solo album of unaccompanied baroque violin works – Beyond Bach and Vivaldi – is released on the Naxos label. It was named one of the top 20 albums of 2018 by WQXR, and was under consideration for the 61st Grammy Awards. The album has received rave reviews from Diapason D’or, The Strad, Early Music America, and many more. Early Music America wrote, “Lodge’s special skill, in addition to her intonational and tonal felicities, is … an inexpressible sense of pace and pause that focuses the listener’s attention on each piece’s most poignant moments.” She currently has two more albums in progress, one of which she shares with her sister Georgina McKay Lodge.

Well-versed in the role of concertmaster, McKay Lodge has served regularly as concertmaster for The American Classical Orchestra, Berwick Academy (as guest artist), Teatro Nuovo (also regularly associate concertmaster), Juilliard415, and others. She has performed in concertmaster and solo capacities under the baton of Nicholas McGegan, William Christie, Masaaki Suzuki, Ton Koopman, and Kristian Bezuidenhout, John Butt, Tom Crawford, and others.

McKay Lodge is named an English Concert American Fellow, a Juilliard-Mercury Fellow, and a Kovner Fellow. She is a member of Les Arts Florissants, Le Poème Harmonique, Les Talens Lyrique, and Opéra Fuoco and has performed regularly in leading historical orchestras such as The American Classical Orchestra, Mercury: an Orchestra Redefined, Voices of Music, Oregon Bach Festival, Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra.

Upcoming highlights in a fully booked season include a concerto appearance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival with The English Concert, Bach’s Brandenburg No. 4 (solo) with The American Classical Orchestra, a concerto with the Washington Bach Consort, and a tour with Les Arts Florissants. Check her calendar for updates.

AN EARLY START:

McKay Lodge is a native of Oberlin, Ohio. At a record age, she earned a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a Masters of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School, and a Masters from The Juilliard School in historical performance where she was a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.

Augusta began her studies early on and continued at the Moscow Central Special Music School. She received honors (Pi Kappa Lambda) from Oberlin Conservatory upon graduation at the age of 19 and spent an exchange semester at Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2011. Previous teachers include Alexander Kerr, Stanley Ritchie, Cynthia Roberts, Monica Huggett, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Robert Mealy, Marilyn McDonald, Milan Vitek.

Augusta plays on a Jason Viseltear baroque violin from 2014. Further information to be found at: www.augustamckaylodge.com.