Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941, in Los Angeles, California) is an American conductor.
He became the conductor of the San Francisco Ballet at the age of 18, and served as Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. He went on to conduct many of the world's finest orchestras, and he held Music Director positions with the Houston Symphony, the Orchestre National de Monte Carlo, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya in Spain.
In late 1989, he was the odds-on favorite to be named Music Director of the Pacific Symphony of Orange County, California. In December 1989, the orchestra offered Foster the position, and he accepted in principle. Contract negotiations began, and Foster began planning his schedule and the orchestra's programs for the coming years. However, in February 1990, Foster revealed that the offer had been rescinded, largely due to concerns about his salary and that his involvement with his Monte Carlo post would limit his level of commitment in California:[1][2]
Since 2002, he has been the music director of the Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon.
| Preceded by André Previn |
Music Director, Houston Symphony Orchestra 1971-1979 |
Succeeded by Sergiu Comissiona |
| Preceded by Armin Jordan |
Musical Director, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne 1985–1990 |
Succeeded by Jesús López-Cobos |
| Preceded by Luis Antonio García Navarro |
Musical Director, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya 1994-2002 |
Succeeded by Ernest Martínez Izquierdo |
| Preceded by Muhai Tang |
Principal Conductor, Gulbenkian Orchestra 2002-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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