Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Biography Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Lars Anders Tomter
international solo career started in 1987/88 when he toured extensively in the United States and Germany with the prestigious Norwegian Chamber Orchestra under its director Iona Brown. Since then his appearances as a viola soloist has been greeted with the highest public and critical acclaim throughout Europe and the United States, from the Vienna Musikverein to major venues in Scandinavia, Madrid, Budapest, Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Paris, Prague, Rome, London, New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
Lars Anders 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, Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Hungarian State Philharmonic, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, KBS Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Danish National Radio and Swedish Radio Symphonies.
Conductors with whom he has worked together include among others Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sylvain Cambreling, Dennis Russell Davies, Daniele Gatti, Manfred Honeck, Arvid Jansons, Okko Kamu, Dmitri Kitaenko, Ken Ichiro Kobayashi, Krzysztof Penderecki, Ulf Schirmer, John Storgårds, Muhai Tang, Yan Pascal Tortelier and Hans Vonk. Lars Anders Tomter is a regular guest at important festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein, Lockenhaus, Kissingen Summer, BBC Proms, Mondseetage, Styriarte as well as at a number of festivals in Scandinavia. In addition, he is artistic director of the Norwegian Risør Chamber Music Festival. He has a large repertoire including all major contemporary works, and he has recorded for Simax, Naxos, Virgin Classics, NMC, Somm and Chandos.
Lars Anders Tomter is a Professor at the State Academy in Oslo, supervising a number of Norway's most talented string players. He plays a Gasparo da Salo viola dated from 1590.
Engagements during the past seasons have seen Lars Anders Tomter among others at festivals such as Schubertiade, styriarte, Moritzburg, Delft, Verbier, and Schwetzingen. He appeared with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, with the Trio Jean Paul at the Konzerthaus Berlin, with the Oslo Philharmonic, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and he performed in Amsterdam, London, Montréal, Rotterdam, Seoul, Taipei and Sao Paulo.
With beginning of the season 2008/09 Lars Anders Tomter will play the new viola concerto "Illuminati" which Erkki-Sven Tüür has written for him. The world premiere will take place with the Sønderjyllands Symphony Orchestra, one of the concerto's co-commissioner'S. The other co-commissioners are the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra ERSO, the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover, the Orchestre National de Lille, and Norsk Kulturråd. In July 2008 Lars Anders Tomter has premiered the viola concerto of Ragnar Söderlind within the Elverum Festival. Also this concerto has been written especially for Lars Anders Tomter.
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Since its formation in 1977 the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra has secured a reputation for itself for its innovative programming and creativity. The artistic directors and guest leaders of the orchestra have included Iona Brown, Leif Ove Andsnes, Martin Fröst, François Leleux and Steven Isserlis together with the current artistic director Terje Tønnesen, who has held this rôle since the orchestra’s formation. The orchestra’s international tours to Europe, Asia and North America have received outstanding reviews at many of the world’s prestigious concert halls and festivals. With nearly forty recordings to date, the NCO has recorded comprehensive chamber orchestra repertoire with distinguished soloists, including Leif Ove Andsnes, Terje Tønnesen, Iona Brown, Truls Mørk, Lars Anders Tomter and Tine Thing Helseth. Highlights include Spellemannpris winning recordings of Grieg/Nielsen works and Haydn piano concertos with Leif Ove Andsnes. The orchestra draws on an enviable roster of Norwegian and international soloists and has always been dedicated to presenting contemporary music as part of its concert repertoire. The NCO currently presents its own concert series at the University Aula in Oslo and performs in major concert venues in Norway. Since 2011, the NCO has been in close collaboration with the Risør Chamber Music Festival and is now orchestra-in-residence at the festival.
