Vibrant, inspired performances, imaginative programming and an evocative command of different styles and composers are the hallmarks of American conductor Lawrence Golan. Currently serving as Music Director / Conductor of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra (Washington), the York Symphony Orchestra (Pennsylvania), and the Lamont Symphony Orchestra & Opera Theatre at the University of Denver (Colorado), he was recently named the Official Conductor of the Concurso Internacional de Piano Compositores de España in Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain. Additionally, he is the Music Director Laureate of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra.
Having conducted throughout the United States and in Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, El Salvador, England, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, Maestro Golan continues to develop relationships with orchestras nationally and abroad.
An accomplished violinist, Golan served as Principal Second Violinist of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra (1989-1990) and then Concertmaster of the Portland Symphony Orchestra for eleven years (1990-2001) before focusing his career on the podium. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and continues to perform, primarily to benefit the orchestras of which he is Music Director.
Mr. Golan has made numerous recordings, both as conductor and violinist. His discography includes the Blu-ray disc and audio CD of composer Jiaojiao Zhou’s theatrical symphonic poem Ode to Nature and “Beethoven 7” & “Beethoven 7.1” with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra; “Tchaikovsky 6” & “Tchaikovsky 6.1,” “Funky Little Crustaceans,” music of William Hill, and “Visions, Dreams & Memories,” a collection of works for Native American Flute and Orchestra featuring James Pellerite with the Moravian Philharmonic. As a violinist, Golan recorded Fantasia, a collection of works for solo violin, and “Indian Summer: The Music of George Perlman” with pianist Martin Perry.
As a composer/arranger/author, Golan’s edition and reduced orchestration of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is published by Spurwink River Publishing and is used by orchestras and ballet companies across North America and Europe. His scholarly-performing edition of the solo violin works of J. S. Bach, which includes a handbook on Baroque Performance Practice, and The Lawrence Golan Violin Scale System are both published by Mel Bay Publications. Golan’s Fantasia for Solo Violin is published by LudwigMasters. His original orchestral compositions, including Fantasia for Orchestra and Giovanna d’Arco (Joan of Arc), are available through Notation Central. Golan’s book on preparing musical scores for performance, called Score Study Passes, is published by Globe Edit.
Lawrence Golan was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2024 St. Cecilia International Music Competition in the UK and was also awarded First Prize in four different categories, both as conductor and composer. In addition, he is a 10-time winner of ASCAP Awards for the Innovative Programming of Contemporary Music, 5-time Global Music Award winner, 3-time American Prize winner, 3-time Downbeat Magazine Award winner, and 2-time Prestige Music Award winner. He was the Grand Prize Winner of the American Prize in Orchestral Programming and the First Place winner of the Ictus International Music Competition.
A native of Chicago, Lawrence Golan comes from a musical family. His father, the late Joseph Golan, was a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for forty-nine years and Principal Second Violinist for thirty-five of those years. Lawrence Golan received his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Master of Music in Violin Performance and Orchestral Conducting from the Indiana University School of Music and his D.M.A. in Violin Performance and Orchestral Conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In 1999 he was awarded Tanglewood Music Center’s Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship, and in 2002, Aspen Music Festival’s Conducting Fellowship.
A staunch advocate for music education, Lawrence Golan has been Director of Orchestral Studies and head of the graduate conducting program at the University of Denver since 2001. There he has won eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, three Downbeat Magazine Awards for “Best College Symphony Orchestra,” and The American Prize for Orchestral Performance – Collegiate Division. His latest honor is the 2021 Distinguished Scholar Award from the University of Denver.
Previous positions include Principal Guest Conductor, Bayerische Philharmonie in Munich, Germany (2022-2024), Music Director, Denver Philharmonic Orchestra (2013-2024), Resident Conductor, Phoenix Symphony (2006-2010), founder and Artistic Director, Atlantic Chamber Orchestra (1998-2003), Music Director, Portland Ballet Company (1997-2013), and Music Director, Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra (1990-2001). Lawrence and his wife Cecilia, who is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, have two young children.
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