Dear Lara

The documentary film Dear Lara (2026) is the work of Lara St. John, a world-class Canadian violinist and first-time filmmaker, who has set out to chronicle a long history of sexual abuse in the world of classical music. The title is inspired by the many letters and e-mails that St. John received after making public the story of her time studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she was sexually abused and raped by her (so-called) master teacher, Jascha Brodsky. She was fourteen. He was seventy-eight. Administrators at Curtis — no surprise — did nothing.

It’s a harrowing documentary, with account after account from survivors and their loved ones of powerful men acting, sometimes over many decades, without fear of consequences, in institutions that proved to be appallingly complicit. We see screens full of messages of support and celebration as abusers move on to new positions, and screens full of messages of misogynistic hatred directed at those who have brought charges against their abusers. And it all hits close to home: Elaine went to school (Juilliard) with one victim (whom she didn’t know) who later took her own life. And we both attended a concert not knowing that one of the musicians, whom Elaine knew in elementary school, had been that victim’s fiancé.

I want to say that it’s beyond me how men purportedly devoted to the beauty and joy of music can prey upon those who are supposed to carry that beauty and joy into the future. But it’s not really beyond me: there is no reason that a devotion to art cannot exist alongside predatory brutality.

After a month’s streaming in Canada and several screenings in the United States, Dear Lara is, for now, unavailable. I hope that will soon change. The film tells a compelling and disturbing story and deserves to be widely seen, via a distributor, or PBS’s Independent Lens, or some other means.

Thanks to Lara St. John, who trusted Elaine with a link (sorry, not to be shared) that let us watch the film. Elaine has also written about the film.

Dear Lara (The film’s website)