Lars Anders Tomter is one of today’s most outstanding violists. «The Giant of the Nordic Viola» (The Strad) was born at Hamar, Norway. He began to play the violin and viola at the age of eight, both instruments which he studied at the Music Conservatory in Oslo and the Norwegian Academy of Music with Professor Leif Jørgensen. He then continued his studies with Professor Max Rostal and with Sándor Vegh. Tomter was awarded a special prize for his interpretation of Bartók’s Viola Concerto at the International Viola Competition in Budapest in 1984 and won the Maurice Vieux International Competition in Lille, France in 1986.
Lars Anders Tomter has distinguished himself by performing new music extensively, including the world premiere of four concertos by Ragnar Söderlind, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Rolf Wallin and Anders Eliasson, which have all been written for Lars Anders Tomter. In 2011 he recorded Vagn Holmboe’s Viola Concerto with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra released on the Dacapo label. In 2015 he recorded Poul Ruders’ Viola Concerto with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and in 2016 he performed Egil Hovland’s Viola Concerto with the Oslo Philharmonic. Tomter´s broad repertoire includes all the most important contemporary works. He has recorded for labels including Simax, Naxos, Virgin Classics, NMC, Somm and Chandos.
Lars Anders Tomter’s performances as an international viola soloist have been met with the highest acclaim from audiences and critics throughout Europe and the USA, including at the Vienna Musikverein, New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Kölner Philharmonie. He has appeared with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, 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 Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
Conductors with whom Tomter has worked together include among others 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. In addition, Lars Anders Tomter collaborates frequently with internationally renowned musicians in chamber music projects.
Lars Anders Tomter is a regular guest at important festivals such as BBC Proms, Lockenhaus, Kissingen Summer, Mondseetage, Schleswig-Holstein, Schwetzingen, Styriarte, Verbier as well as at a number of festivals in Scandinavia. In addition, he founded and is a previous artistic director of the Norwegian Risør Chamber Music Festival.
Lars Anders Tomter is a Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, supervising a number of Norway’s most talented string players. In 2013 he was appointed assistant professor at the Royal Danish Music Academy, Copenhagen.
Tomter plays a Gasparo da Salo viola dated from 1590.