Foster, Lawrence (1941– )

US conductor. He studied in Los Angeles with Fritz Zweig and was assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra 1965–68. He was chief guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 1969–74, and of the Houston Symphony Orchestra 1971–78. In 1976 he led the revised version of Walton's Troilus and Cressida at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. He was appointed musical director of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, in Düsseldorf-Duisburg, in 1981. He is active on behalf of modern music and has given the first performances of works by Birtwistle, Goehr, and Crosse. His other posts have included chief conductor of the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera from 1979, and musical director at Duisburg 1981–88, with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra 1985–90, and with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra from 1988.