Foster, Lawrence (Thomas)

Foster, Lawrence (Thomas), noted American conductor; b. Los Angeles, Oct. 23, 1941. He studied conducting with F. Zweig in Los Angeles. He made his first conducting appearance with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orch. in Los Angeles in 1960. At the age of 24, he was appointed asst. conductor of the Los Angeles Phil., which post he held until 1968; in 1966, received the Koussevitzky Memorial Conducting Prize at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. From 1969 to 1974 he was chief guest conductor of the Royal Phil, in London. From 1971 to 1978 he was conductorin-chief of the Houston Sym. Orch. From 1979 to 1990 he was chief conductor of the Opera and the Orchestre National de Monte Carlo (called Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo from 1980). He also became

Generalmusikdirektor in the city of Duisburg in 1981, remaining in that position until 1988. From 1990 to 1998 he was music director of the Aspen (Colo.) Music Festival. In 1992 he resumed the position of chief conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique in Monte Carlo. He was also music director of the Lausanne Chamber Orch. (1985–90) and the Jerusalem Sym. Orch. (1988–92). In 1996 he became music director of the Barcelona Sym. Orch. Foster is particularly notable for his dynamic interpretations of modern works, but has also been acclaimed for his precise and intelligent presentations of the Classical and Romantic repertoire.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire