Laurence Lesser

Laurence Lesser, cello (Boston, MA), is a laureate of the 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition and was a participant in the historic Heifetz-Piatigorsky concerts and recordings. Larry has been soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, and the New Japan Philharmonic. He has participated at the Casals, Marlboro, Ravinia, Menlo, Spoleto, and Santa Fe festivals, and has been a frequent guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Larry has been a member of New England Conservatory since 1974, after being the teaching assistant of Gregor Piatigorsky at USC. He served as president of NEC from 1983 to 1996. His recordings of the complete Beethoven sonatas for cello and piano and the complete Bach suites have been critically acclaimed. Other recordings have appeared on the RCA, Columbia, Melodiya, and CRI labels. Previous Yellow Barn guest faculty (since 2014)