Andrew Lawrence-King’s musical career began as Head Chorister at the Cathedral and Parish Church of St Peter Port Guernsey, whence he won an Organ Scholarship to Cambridge, completing his studies at the London Early Music Centre. He made his professional debut at London’s Royal Albert Hall playing medieval harp in the BBC Promenade Concerts, and  rapidly established himself as a versatile continuo-player with  Europe's foremost specialist ensembles. In 1988 he founded and co-directed the continuo-group Tragicomedia. He joined Jordi Savall's Hesperion XX, and was appointed Professor of Harp and Continuo at the Akademie für Alte Musik, Bremen, and the Escuela Superior de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona. He has also taught at the Sibelius Academy and Helsinki Stadia (Finland), and is a regular teacher at the Historical Harp Society of Ireland’s Scoil na gClàirseach.

 

n 1994 Andrew Lawrence-King formed his own ensemble, The Harp Consort, and was immediately signed up by Deutsche Harmonia Mundi for a seven-year series of solo and ensemble recordings: Luz y Norte [Diapason d’Or & Amadeus magazine’s CD of the year]; the medieval 'opera' Ludus Danielis; Italian Concerto, on which he is both conductor and concerto soloist [Echo Prize for Best Early Music CD, German Phonographic Academy]; La púrpura de la rosa, the first New World opera [Noah Greenberg Award].

 

Andrew’s recital CDs include The Harp of Luduvico (Spanish & Italian renaissance) La Harpe Royale (French Baroque), His Majesty’s Harper (Dowland & Byrd) and The Secret of the Semitones (Bach), and he has also recorded Vivaldi’s Four Seasons  & Handel's first opera, Almira, [American Handel Society CD of the Year].

 

The Harp Consort now records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi USA. Their chart-topping first release was Missa Mexicana: festive polyphony and popular dances from 17^th-century Mexico [LondonTimes CD of the Year]. Their second CD, Miracles (songs by Gautier de Coincy, 13^th -century Prior of Vic) won the Dutch “Edison” award: it was also Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice & London Telegraph CD of the Year. Their latest release is El Arte de Fantasía: dances, tientos & chansons from the Spanish Golden Age.

 

Andrew Lawrence-King directed a staged production of Peri’s Euridice at the Los Angeles Getty Centre for the 400^th anniversary of the earliest opera, and he directed the first performance in Florence since 1589 of the Florentine Intermedi in its original location, the Palazzo Medici. Last year he directed (stage & music) Monteverdi’s Orfeo and the medieval Ludus Danielis in Copenhagen. His work on 17th-century dances with The Harp Consort has won the ensemble an unparalleled reputation for stylish and entertaining stage-shows, and provides the foundation for Il Corago, a directorial team offering a unified and stylish approach to staging early opera. Andrew’s work on early Irish harps has gained considerable attention in traditional music circles, and two CD volumes of The Celtic Viol with Jordi Savall are worldwide best-sellers and winners of the Spanish Premio award for two consecutive years. His duo album with Paul Hillier was chosen by Elvis Costello as record of the year in Rolling Stone magazine, and he has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Sheffield University for his achievements in Baroque opera.

 

Andrew Lawrence-King now divides his time between solo recitals, tours with The Harp Consort, productions with Il Corago, and appearances as guest director for orchestras, choirs and baroque operas in Europe, Scandinavia and the Americas, interspersed with worldwide performances of Luz y norte and Missa Mexicana. He is Principal Guest Director of Concerto Copenhagen (Scandinavia's leading baroque orchestra), and the Florentine ensemble, L'Homme Armé (specialising in baroque opera and oratorio). He was awarded a three-year Research Fellowship by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council to research Spanish Baroque music-drama and has been invited to the University of Western Australia, Perth as Senior Visiting Research Fellow in baroque opera. He is Professor of Early Harp at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London and teaches Harp & Continuo at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. His first solo recital for Harmonia Mundi USA is Chorégraphie: Music for Louis XIV’s Dancing Masters.

 

In recent years Andrew has premiered a newly reconstructed Handel harp concerto and is directing a six-year cycle of performances of the Brandenburg concertos in Finland. He was artistic director for Monteverdi’s sword-fighting opera Combattimento in conjunction with the London Olympics, and as Il Corago directed stage action and music for Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas with Concerto Copenhagen. At the opening concert of the 2012 Inter-Celtic festival in Lorient and at Womad 2013, Andrew played Carolan and traditional Scots music on early Irish harp.