Muzyka Dawna w Pałacu Paca

ANDREW LAWRENCE-KING

Baroque-harp virtuoso and imaginative continuo-player, Andrew Lawrence-King is recognised as one of the world's leading performers of early music. A creative and inspiring conductor who directs from one of several continuo instruments (including harp, organ, harpsichord & psaltery), he has led baroque operas and oratorios at La Scala, Milan; Sydney Opera House; Casals Hall, Tokyo; Berlin Philharmonie; Vienna Konzerthaus; New York's Carnegie Hall; and Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes.

His musical career began as Head Chorister at the Cathedral and Parish Church of St Peter Port Guernsey, whence he won an Organ Scholarship to Cambridge, completing his studies at the London Early Music Centre. He rapidly established himself as a versatile continuo-player with Europe's foremost specialist ensembles and in 1988 founded and co-directed the continuo-group Tragicomedia. He joined Jordi Savall's Hesperion XX as harp soloist, and was appointed Professor of Harp and Continuo at the Akademie für Alte Musik, Bremen.

In 1994 Andrew Lawrence-King formed his own ensemble, The Harp Consort, and was immediately signed up by Deutsche Harmonia Mundi for a seven-year series of solo and ensemble recordings: Luz y Norte [Diapason d'Or & Amadeus magazine's CD of the year]; the medieval 'opera' Ludus Danielis; Italian Concerto [voted Best Early Music CD by the German Phonographic Academy] on which he is both conductor and concerto soloist; La púrpura de la rosa, the first New World opera [Noah Greenberg Award]; Vivaldi's Four Seasons and many others. The Harp Consort also formed the continuo band for Andrew Lawrence-King's prize-winning recording of Handel's first opera, Almira, for CPO. The Harp Consort now records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi USA, and their first HMU release is Missa Mexicana: festive polyphony and popular dances from 17th-century Mexico.

Andrew Lawrence-King is principal guest director of the Florentine baroque ensemble, L'Homme Armé, specialising in early baroque opera & oratorio. He conducted a staged production of Peri's Euridice at the Los Angeles Getty Centre for the 400th anniversary of the earliest opera, and has been invited to Lima, Peru to direct the 300th anniversary performance of La púrpura de la rosa. His work on 17th-century dances with Steven Player & The Harp Consort has won the ensemble an unparalleled reputation for stylish and entertaining stage-shows, and his duo album with Paul Hillier was chosen by Elvis Costelloe as record of the year in Rolling Stone magazine.

Andrew Lawrence-King now divides his time between solo recitals, tours with The Harp Consort, and appearances as guest director for orchestras, choirs and baroque operas in Europe, Scandinavia and the Americas, interspersed with worldwide performances of Luz y norte and Missa Mexicana.

A keen sailor, Andrew holds the Royal Yachting Association's coveted Yachtmaster certificate, and spends most of his free time aboard his boat, "Continuo".