Biography
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor: Gulbenkian Orchestra
Music Director: Orchestre et Opéra National de Montpellier
2011/12 engagements include include appearances with NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, the Residentie Orkest (both in The Hague and at the Kissinger Sommer Festival), Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (both in their own subscription series and on tour in Germany with Jean-Yves Thibaudet), Tivoli Symphony Orchestra (with Julia Fischer) and MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig. Highlights of previous seasons have included concerts with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (with Lisa Batiashvili as soloist), Konzerhausorchester Berlin, and an appearance at the Grafenegg Festival with the Tonkünstler Orchester.
As an opera conductor, Lawrence Foster has appeared in major houses throughout the world. He works regularly at Hamburgische Staatsoper and future productions include Pique Dame in 2011/12 and The Cunning Little Vixen in 2013/14. He will make his Oper Frankfurt debut with a production of Khovanschina in 2012/13.
In addition to his positions as Music Director of Gulbenkian Orchestra and Opéra et Orchestre National de Montpellier, Lawrence Foster also has strong relationships with NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, as well as the Czech and Helsinki philharmonic orchestras.
Reviews
"…Lawrence Foster conducted with a youthful spirit...Listening was a pleasure and the orchestra were obviously having fun, not just in their playing but also in the rhythmical clapping and loud Olés they had to shout out. Viva España." (Weser Kurier, November 2010)
"The strong but never pompous the style of this exceptional conductor allowed Volodos to master Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto and play so magically that it took our breath away" (Die Welt, October 2010)
"Guest conductor Lawrence Foster easily gained the large audience’s approval with his no-nonsense approach, as he had also done just the previous evening, when he easily led the phenomenal pianist Garrick Ohlsson and the orchestra through a sublime performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto." (The Saratogian, August 2010)
'Foster clicked with the musicians of the Residentie Orkest. Having warmed up with ‘Le chasseur maudit’…Foster knew how to unite the musicians in one heartbeat. The performances of Fauré’s ‘Pelléas et Mélisande’ and Debussy’s ‘La mer’ proved that the rich tradition of the Residentie Orkest still is very much alive.' (Volkskrant, October 2010)
“La soirée n’aurait pas été totalement réussie sans des cheours et un orchestre montpellierains proprements enivrants au son chaud, aux details soignés, sous la baguette incandescante de Lawrence Foster. Un très, très grand moment de musique.” (Opera Magazine, March 2010)
“Foster ist ein ungemein präzise agierender Dirigent, der gestenreich bis hin zur Pantomime seinem Orchester die Feinheiten und die Grobschlächtigkeiten der Partitur vorzeichnet.” (Frankfurter Rundschau, April 2009)
“Die auβerordentliche Aufführungsqualität aber, mit der die stets hohe Erwartungen weckende Junge Deutsche Philharmonie bei ihrem Frühjahrskonzert in der Alten Oper Frankfurt brillierte, hing auch mit der überaus glücklichen Wahl des Dirigenten zusammen: Allein optisch war zu verfolgen, mit welch ausgeprägtem Engagement, ökonomischer Zeichengebung und Geschmeidigkeit der Linienführung Lawrence Foster durch das Dickicht und Gestrüpp der Linienführung in Richard Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie führte, die so einen moderneren Anstrich als üblich erhielt.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine, April 2009)
“It was, however, a real pleasure to hear the score so lovingly conducted by Lawrence Foster, who drew warm French colors from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. It was in the pit, rather than on the stage, that the magic of Roussel’s work was best realised.” (Opera News USA, June 2008)
Contact
News
Lawrence Foster tours China with Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini
Lawrence Foster celebrates 70th birthday in gala concert with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Lawrence Foster conducts three concerts with Konzerthausorchester Berlin
Lawrence Foster conducts world premiere at Opéra de Monte-Carlo with Kim Begley







