Lawrence Power

Lawrence Power plays a 17-inch (43.3 cm) viola by Antonio Brensi of Bologna from c.1610.

In recent years Power has commissioned a series of major works for the viola.

These include:

Lawrence Power is a British violist, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble and Leopold String Trio.

Power started out as a violist (rather than beginning studies on the violin and switching to viola) at his primary school aged eight.

When 11, Power entered the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London studying with Mark Knight.

Later Power spent a year at the Juilliard School with Karen Tuttle.

After a year in New York, Power returned to London and won first prize in the Primrose International Viola Competition in 1999.

Following a third prize at the 2000 Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition in Paris, he made his first recording (Ligeti, Roslavets, Takemitsu and Prokofiev).

In 2001 Power was selected to become a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist until 2003.

Power is a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music in London and has given master classes at the Verbier Festival.

In 2003 Power was head-hunted to become the leader of the viola section of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, but despite playing with them in Mahler's 3rd Symphony at the Barbican under Haitink he did not audition for the position.

Since his London solo debut with The Philharmonia, he has performed in the UK and abroad, appearing as soloist with many orchestras such as the London Symphony, BBC Symphony, English Chamber, Scottish Chamber, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Verbier Festival Chamber, New Zealand Symphony, Lucerne Festival Strings and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

At the Proms, he has played the Mozart Sinfonia concertante (with Maxim Vengerov) in 2006, the Walton Viola Concerto in 2007, Vaughan Williams's Flos Campi in 2008, and he took part in a chamber music Prom in 2009.

James MacMillan dedicated his Viola Concerto to Power in 2013.

Power has a prominent career as a chamber musician, as violist in the Nash Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio.

He has made guest appearances at international music festivals such as Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Verbier, Vancouver, and Oslo.

He was awarded the Cobbett Medal for services to chamber music in 2023.

There are also the "Lockdown Commissions" - ten short pieces that were performed and videoed in venues vacated due to Coronovirus, starting in June 2020.

The commissioned composers were: Martyn Brabbins, Garth Knox, Thomas Larcher, William Marsey, Cassandra Miller, Olli Mustonen, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Huw Watkins and Héloïse Werner.