Lars Anders Tomter

Lars Anders Tomter (born in 1959) is one of today’s outstanding and prominent violists. He studied both viola and violin with Leif Jørgensen at the Oslo Music Conservatory and the Norwegian Academy of Music, and gave his debut on both instruments at the age of 17. After continuing his studies with Professor Max Rostal and Sándor Vegh, he was awarded a special prize for his interpretation of Bartók’s Viola Concerto at the International Viola Competition in Budapest in 1984, and he won the Maurice Vieux International Competition in Lille in 1986. Since then his appearances as a viola soloist have been greeted with the highest public and critical acclaim throughout the world.

Tomter has performed with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, City of Birmingham Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Dutch Radio Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Hungarian State Philharmonic, KBS Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Danish National Radio and Swedish Radio Symphonies. Conductors he has worked with include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dennis Russell Davies, Daniele Gatti, Manfred Honeck, Arvid Jansons, Okko Kamu, Dmitri Kitaenko, Ken Ichiro Kobayashi, Krzysztof Penderecki, Ulf Schirmer, Muhai Tang, Yan Pascal Tortelier, and Hans Vonk.

He is a regular guest at festivals like Schleswig-Holstein, Lockenhaus, Kissingen Summer, BBC Proms, Mondseetage, Styriarte, as well as a number of Scandinavian festivals. In addition, he is artistic director of the Norwegian Risør Chamber Music Festival. Lars Anders Tomter is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He plays a Gasparo da Salò viola dated from 1590.

August 2012