Lars Anders Tomter

Hailed as “The Giant of the Nordic Viola” in The Strad, Lars Anders Tomter is one of today’s most influential violists. Born in Hamar, Norway, Mr. Tomter began to play the violin and viola at a very young age and went on to study with prominent professors including Leif Jørgensen at the Oslo Music Conservatory and the Norwegian State Academy, Max Rostal, and Sándor Vegh. In 1986, he captured the first prize at the Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition and, in 1984, he was awarded a special prize for his interpretation of Bartók’s Viola Concerto at the International Viola Competition in Budapest.

Mr. Tomter is an avid supporter of new music, having performed the world premiere of four concertos composed for him and by Ragnar Söderlind, Erkki‐Sven Tüür, Rolf Wallin, and Anders Eliasson. In addition, he has recorded Vagn Holmboe’s Viola Concerto with the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra (released on the Dacapo label), Poul Ruders’ Viola Concerto with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, and Egil Hovland’s Viola Concerto with the Oslo Philharmonic.

Mr. Tomter’s appearances as an international soloist have received highest critical acclaim throughout Europe and the United States at Vienna Musikverein, New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Kölner Philharmonie. He has performed with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, RSO Frankfurt, NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover, Gürzenich‐Orchestra Cologne, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Dutch Radio Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, and Danish National Radio Symphony. He has collaborated with conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sylvain Cambreling, Dennis Russell Davies, Olari Elts, Daniele Gatti, Manfred Honeck, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Juha Kangas, Krzysztof Penderecki, Okko Kamu, Arvid Jansons, Dmitri Kitaenko, Ken‐Ishiro Kobayashi, Ervin Lukács, Nello Santi, Jukka‐Pekka Saraste, Ulf Schirmer, John Storgårds, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Muhai Tang, and Hans Vonk. Mr. Tomter also frequently works with internationally renowned musicians in chamber music projects. His vast repertoire encompasses all major contemporary works, and he has recorded with Simax, Naxos, Virgin Classics, NMC, Somm, and Chandos.

Mr. Tomter is a regular guest at some of the most prestigious music festivals, including BBC Proms, Lockenhaus, Kissingen Summer, Mondseetage, Schleswig‐Holstein, Schwetzingen, Styriarte, Verbier, and a number of festivals in Scandinavia. He is the joint artistic director of the Norwegian Risør Chamber Music Festival.

Lars Anders Tomter is a professor at the State Academy in Oslo, training and working with a number of Norway’s most talented string players. In 2013, he was appointed as an assistant professor at the Royal Danish Music Academy, Copenhagen. He plays on a Gasparo da Salo viola dated from 1590.