Lawrence Foster celebrates his last season as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Known for his exhilarating and expressive performances in a wide range of music, he enjoys a major career spanning the US, Europe and Asia. As a champion of the music of Enescu, his interpretations are renowned for their faithfulness to the score.
He has begun his tenure with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra at the prestigious Enescu Festival, performing music by Pop, Chopin and Lutosławski. He has conducted in major opera houses around the world, with highlights including Walton’s Troilus and Cressida at the Royal Opera House, recorded for EMI, the first performance of Berg’s Lulu at Houston Grand Opera, Enescu’s Oedipe at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, also recorded for EMI, and the opening performance of the newly created Los Angeles Opera with Plácido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes in Verdi’s Otello.
Following his successful ten-year tenure as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, he now serves as its Conductor Laureate. He toured extensively with the Orchestra, and their discography together includes a number of recordings for Pentatone Classics, including highly acclaimed recordings of Verdi’s Otello and violin works by Bruch, Chausson and Korngold with Arabella Steinbacher.
He has also held music directorships with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Houston Symphony, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie and the Aspen Music Festival and School.
He has worked with orchestras including Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic and Czech Philharmonic orchestras, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, among others.
In addition to recordings with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, he has received praise for a number of recordings with Pentatone including the early symphonies of Schubert with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Strauss’ Der Zigeunerbaron and Die Fledermaus with NDR Radiophilharmonie, and the Martinů’s Double Concertos.
Born in Los Angeles to Romanian parents, Foster served as Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival from 1998 to 2001. In 2003 he was decorated by the Romanian President for services to Romanian Music.