Lawrence Power
Viola
The British violist Lawrence Power is one of the leading violists worldwide, equally admired as a soloist and in chamber music. He works regularly with major orchestras, including the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and with conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Andrew Manze, Lahav Shani, Christian Thielemann, Osmo Vänskä and Ilan Volkov.
His engagements in the 2025/26 season include(d) returns to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Salzburg Festival. He also gave the world premiere of Garth Knox’s Viola Concerto in his debut with Camerata Bern, performed with the Munich Chamber Orchestra at the Prinzregententheater and gave concerts with his duo partner Simon Crawford-Phillips, including at the Heidelberg Spring Festival.
He has already performed twelve times at the BBC Proms, and his dramatically nuanced and innovative programming means that he is regularly invited to leading concert venues and festivals as a curator and artist in residence. Since 2021 he has been an associate artist at London’s Wigmore Hall.
In his characteristic Play & Lead projects he directs chamber orchestras both from the viola and from the violin. He is a member of the Nash Ensemble and performs regularly with his chamber music partners Nicolas Altstaedt, Vilde Frang and Ilya Gringolts.
He has an especial passion for new music and through the Viola Commissioning Circle, which he founded, is constantly expanding the viola repertory to include new works by contemporary composers. He has given the world premieres of viola concertos by Magnus Lindberg, Cassandra Miller, Anders Hillborg, David Philip Hefti, James MacMillan and Ryan Wigglesworth, and of works by Thomas Adès, Garth Knox, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Mark-Anthony Turnage.
Lawrence Power studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Juilliard School. He is the founder and artistic director of the West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival and of the Âme Creative Studios.
In 2020 he received the Instrumentalist Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society. He is a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts and gives masterclasses at the Verbier Festival, among others.
Lawrence Power plays a viola made by the Brothers Amati in 1590 (ex Trampler), on loan from the Karolina Blaberg Foundation.