Lawrence Golan

Lawrence Golan (born 1966) is an American orchestral conductor and classical violinist. He is the Music Director of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra in Colorado, the Yakima Symphony Orchestra in Washington state, and the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre at the University of Denver where he is Director of Orchestral Studies and Professor of Conducting at the Lamont School of Music. He is also the Principal Conductor of the New Seoul Philharmonic in South Korea.

Life and career

Golan was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois where his father, Joseph Golan (1930-2011), was for many years Principal Second Violinist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and went on to complete his Doctorate in music in 1995 at the New England Conservatory with a dissertation entitled Performing Bach: dotted rhythms and trills in the sonatas and partitas for solo violin.^[1][2] He furthered his studies in conducting at several music festivals including Aspen and Tanglewood, where he was awarded a Leonard Bernstein conducting fellowship. Early in his career, he conducted the orchestra of the University of Southern Maine where he was also head of string studies and served as principal second violinist of the Honolulu Symphony and concert master of the Portland Symphony Orchestra.^[3][4][5]

In 2001, he joined the faculty of the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Director of Orchestral Studies and Professor of Conducting and also serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre. He concurrently serves as Music Director of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra (appointed 2010) and the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra (appointed 2013), and as Principal Conductor of the New Seoul Philharmonic in Korea (appointed 2013).^[6][4][7] In 2001, Golan was the initiator of the United States Supreme Court case, now known as Golan v. Holder, which challenged the constitutionality of the application of Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. In the United States, the Act restored copyright status to foreign works (including musical compositions) previously in the public domain.^[8][9]

Awards

Golan's awards include:

• Multiple ASCAP Awards for Innovative Programming of Contemporary Music for his work with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra (2004-2012)^[10]
• Global Music Awards for his recording of Indian Summer: The Music of George Perlman^[1]
• Down Beat Magazine Award for Best College Symphony Orchestra (Lamont Symphony Orchestra)^[11]
• Prestige Music Award (2012) for his recording of Tchaikovsky 6 and Tchaikovsky 6.1^[12]

Recordings

• Beethoven 7 & Beethoven 7.1, Lamont Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Golan. 2011, Albany Records
• Tchaikovsky 6 & Tchaikovsky 6.1, Moravian Philharmonic conducted by Lawrence Golan. 2008, Albany Records
• Funky Little Crustaceans, William Hill, composer, Moravian Philharmonic, Lawrence Golan, conductor. 2007, Albany Records
• Visions, Dreams & Memories, works for Native American flute and orchestra featuring James Pellerite and the Moravian Philharmonic conducted by Lawrence Golan. 2006, Albany Records.
• Indian Summer: The Music of George Perlman. Lawrence Golan, violin; Martin Perry, piano. 1997, Albany Records
• Fantasia, Lawrence Golan, violin. 1995, Entrata Records.

Publications

• Bach: Three Sonatas and Three Partitas for Solo Violin (Book) BWV 1001-1006 by Lawrence Golan. 2006, Mel Bay Publications
• Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet, edited and reduced orchestration by Lawrence Golan. 2003, Spurwink River Publishing
• Lawrence Golan Violin Scale System. 1997, Mel Bay Publications.
• Fantasia for Solo Violin by Lawrence Golan. 1997, Ludwig Music Publishers

References

External links

• Official website
• Faculty biography, University of Denver