Andrew Lawrence-King, harp

Baroque opera & orchestral director, Early Harp virtuoso and imaginative continuo-player, specialist in baroque gesture and Historical Action, Andrew Lawrence-King is one of the world’s leading performers of Early Music and the most recorded harpist of all time.

In 2012, he opened the new hall of the Natalya Satz theatre, Moscow with a production of the earliest surviving opera, Cavalieri’s Anima e Corpo, which won the Golden Mask, Russia’s top theatrical award, as the Jury’s Special Prize in all categories of music-theatre (opera, operetta, musicals, ballet etc). This year, he directed the first performance in modern times in Spain of the earliest surviving Spanish Oratorio, in a staged production at the Portico de Paraí­so festival in Ourense cathedral. He also directed (stage & music) the first staged production in modern times of Stefano Landi’s 1619 tragicomedy La Morte d’Orfeo at the St Petersburg Philharmonia.

A creative and inspiring leader, he has directed baroque operas, oratorios and chamber music at La Scala, Milan; Sydney Opera House; Casals Hall, Tokyo; Berlin, Vienna & Moscow Philharmonics; Vienna Konzerthaus; New York’s Carnegie Hall and Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes. As harp soloist, he won the 2011 Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance in Dinastia Borgia directed by Jordi Savall: in 2013 his duo recital with Jordi won Australia’s prestigious Helpmann Award for Chamber Music Performance. As Senior Visiting Research Fellow for the Australian Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, he is investigating medieval music-drama and early opera.

Andrew Lawrence-King’s ensemble, The Harp Consort, combines state-of-the art early music performance with stylish improvisation and entertaining stage presentation. As an internationally recognised expert on baroque gesture and historical Action, Andrew Lawrence-King has now founded Il Corago, a close-knit production team researching, performing and teaching historically informed stagings of early opera. He also directs the Research, Education & Performance projects of the International Baroque Opera Studio.

A keen sailor, Andrew holds the Royal Yachting Association's coveted Ocean Yachtmaster certificate, and spends most of his free time aboard his boat, ‘Continuo’. This passion for the sea is expressed in his revival of Guernesiais traditional music, Les Travailleurs de la Mer: Ancient Songs from a Small Island. He lives in Guernsey with his wife, harp-maker Katerina Antonenko.