Mark Lawrence

Biography

Hailed as one of the greatest classical trombonists of his generation, Mark Lawrence has had a long a successful career as an orchestral musician, soloist, chamber musician and teacher. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he was Principal Trombonist with the San Francisco Symphony for 34 years. In that capacity, he traveled the world performing and giving masterclasses. As a chamber musician, he has been a member of the world famous and groundbreaking Empire Brass Quintet, Center City Brass Quintet, Four of a Kind trombone quartet, Summit Brass, and San Francisco’s Bay Brass Ensemble.

Mark was a featured soloist with the San Francisco Symphony on many occasions, and has been a frequent recitalist in the U.S. and abroad. In 2005, he was asked to join Sir
George Solti’s World Orchestra for Peace, comprised of orchestral musicians from all over the world. As a member of that group, he performed wildly successful concerts in New York, London, Moscow, and Beijing. Mr. Lawrence has also been guest Principal Trombone with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland. Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is currently a member of Chicago’s Music of the Baroque.

As a recording artist, Lawrence’s impressive discography includes 3 solo recordings, 16 chamber music recordings with the Empire Brass Quintet, Center City Brass Quintet, Four of a Kind trombone quartet, Summit Brass, Bay Brass, plus over 30 recordings (including 10 Grammy Award-winning albums) with the San Francisco Symphony.
Teaching has always been a big part of Mark’s life, and many of his students have successful orchestral and chamber careers in the U.S., Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Japan. He has been on the faculty of Boston University, Northwestern University, The Tanglewood Institute, The Colburn School, and The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

SPECIALTIES:
Orchestral excerpts
Audition preparation
Trombone pedagogy
Performance anxiety

LANGUAGES:
English