Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American
conductor of Romanian ancestry.[1]
Early life
Foster was born in Los Angeles, California, to Romanian parents. His father died when Foster was three years old. He was later adopted by his stepfather which is why the last name is not traditionally Romanian.[2]
From 2002 to 2013, Foster was the music director of the
Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon, Portugal. He also served as music director of the Orchestre National de Montpellier and the Opéra National de Montpellier from 2009 to 2012. Foster was music director of
Opéra de Marseille and the Orchestre philharmonique de Marseille from 2012[8] to 2023. From 2019 to 2023, Foster was artistic director and chief conductor of the
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR).
Foster is particularly noted as an interpreter of the works of
George Enescu, and has made a comprehensive survey of commercial recordings of Enescu's music.[8] He served as artistic director of the George Enescu Festival from 1998 to 2001.[9] In 2003, Foster was decorated by the Romanian President for services to Romanian music.
Foster has recorded commercially for such labels as
Pentatone,> including
Gordon Getty's opera Usher House,
Schumann's symphonies, orchestral works by
Kodály,
Bartók and
Ligeti, and piano and violin concertos by
Bruch,
Korngold,
Rachmaninoff,
Grieg and
Chopin, with various soloists. His recording of
Enescu's Oedipe was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque from the Académie Charles Cros in France.
Mephistopheles and Other Bad Guys. Lawrence Foster,
Kevin Short, Orchestre philharmonique de Marseille, male chorus of the Opéra de Marseille. Pentatone PTC 5186585 (2018).[10]
A Certain Slant of Light. Lisa Delan, Orchestre philharmonique de Marseille. Pentatone PTC 5186634 (2018).
Martinu – Double Concertos.
Mari Kodama,
Momo Kodama,
Sarah Nemtanu, Deborah Nemtanu, Magali Demesse, Orchestre philharmonique de Marseille. Pentatone PTC 5186658 (2018).