Lara St. John's assault documentary opens a week-long window on classical music's reckoning
The violinist's film "Dear Lara" documents sexual abuse in classical music education and exposes institutional silence that allowed predators to teach across borders.
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Canadian violinist Lara St. John's documentary "Dear Lara" will be available for streaming across Canada on the Kinema platform from June 23 to July 1, offering a rare window into a reckoning that classical music institutions have long resisted.
The film grew from St. John's 2019 public disclosure that she was raped by her 78-year-old professor when she was 14 years old, studying at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her decision to speak publicly triggered an avalanche of testimony.
"I knew there were others, but I didn't know how many," St. John said. "In the first month, hundreds of women wrote to me. Most said, 'I want you to know, but I don't want to go public because my husband and my children don't know.' There were enough women ready to testify because they believed preventing this from happening to young people was what mattered most."
By travelling across North America and Europe, St. John collected testimonies that expose how educational institutions prioritize reputation and tuition over student safety. The film documents cases where professors banned in one country simply relocated and continued teaching. One Dutch violin professor, banned from Dutch institutions for multiple sexual assault allegations, taught in England for nearly two decades before arrest and charges in London in 2022. Duncan McTier, a triple-convicted contrabass professor, received a permanent teaching ban in the UK in 2017 yet landed the most prestigious teaching position in his field in Madrid.
Beyond individual predators, the documentary reveals systemic failures. St. John pointed to the statute of limitations on sexual crimes in most U.S. states as a structural barrier to justice. In Pennsylvania, where she was assaulted, the limit was two years. "I was 14, broken, with no money, and would have needed lawyers before age 16? It's ridiculous, and they haven't changed it."
St. John emphasizes prevention and institutional accountability. She is working with Child USA to establish a "Gold Standard" framework and platform intended to give parents tools to protect young musicians from predatory environments. The documentary has moved audiences since its premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February.