Lawrence Renes

Conductor

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“The biggest share of praise, however, is due to conductor Lawrence Renes… the results are overwhelming.”
(The Financial Times, January 2015)

Cultural Ambassador for Music: Republic of Malta

Dutch-Maltese conductor Lawrence Renes garners acclaim in both operatic and symphonic realms for his remarkable talent in balancing orchestra and singers, delivering performances brimming with passion, nuance, and style.

This season sees Renes conducting Omroep Musik and Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra, and Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras among others. 2023/24 season highlights included New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro Regio di Torino and the Auckland Philharmonic.

In recent seasons, Renes has appeared in the UK with Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National and BBC Symphony Orchestras; in Europe with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Malta Philharmonic and Arctic, Oslo and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras; in Asia and Australasia with NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; and in the Americas, OSESP in São Paulo and Milwaukee Symphony. Operatic engagements have included Finnish National Opera (Salome) and the premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra at the Beijing Music Festival. He has also conducted opera productions in Brussels, Seattle, Lisbon and Santa Fe.

Formerly Music Director of the Royal Swedish Opera, Renes’ repertoire there ranged from Mozart through to the 21^st Century. An energetic champion of contemporary repertoire, he is particularly associated with the music of John Adams, having conducted productions of Nixon in China at San Francisco Opera and Doctor Atomic at both English National Opera and De Nederlandse Opera, as well as orchestral works with London and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also worked closely with Guillaume Connesson, Robin de Raaff, George Benjamin and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

HarrisonParrott represents Lawrence Renes for worldwide general management.

Lawrence Renes - Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 (excerpt) © BBC Radio 3 and BBC SSO

John Adams- Shaker Loops (excerpt)

Lawrence Renes conducts John Adams's Doctor Atomic © Opus Arte

“Behind them, the orchestra, under Lawrence Renes’ masterful direction, produces a terse, dark-timbred sound, steadily ratcheting up the tension. No easy listening (or watching) here: this is a brilliant but emotionally draining production, albeit one bound to stay with the viewer a long time.”

Stuff, August 2023

“Lawrence Renes as conductor intimately captures and nails all the fiendishly difficult tones, volumes and timings.”

Theatreview, August 2023

“Conductor Lawrence Renes controlled the orchestral ebb and flow with point and flexibility, allowing the big moments to ‘tell’ as effectively as he did the score’s many ‘whispered’ detailings at the other end of the tonal spectrum”

Middle C, August 2023

“Conductor Lawrence Renes controlled the orchestral ebb and flow with point and flexibility, allowing the big moments to “tell” as effectively as he did the score’s many “whispered” detailings at the other end of the tonal spectrum, all quite remarkably re-contextualised here to suit the time and place of the updated schema, and realised with playing that by turns thrilled, gripped. Disturbed and delighted.”

(Peter Mechen, Middle C, August 2023)

“There can be no praise too high for this amazingly moving production. Lester Lynch and Susan Bullock mange to caress and repel in the one voice, their grasp of the volatile characters and their range of vocal expression (only occasionally drowned out by a full-on orchestra) is peerless. Lawrence Renes as conductor intimately captures and nails all the fiendishly difficult tones, volumes and timings.”

(Dave Smith, Theatreview, August 2023)

(Max Rashbrooke, Stuff.co, August 2023)

“Bluebeard’s Castle is often described as a Symbolist opera and symbolism remains strong in this production. Part of this is the music, marvellously played by the full forces of the NZSO under Dutch-Maltese conductor Lawrence Renes. This is the writing of a young Bartók, strongly influenced by Romantic composers and Debussy, and his score, including the challenging and chromatic vocal lines, is beautiful, colourful and lush.”

(Five Lines, August 2023)

“Renes and the players gave the symphony a beautifully balanced performance, moving easily and convincingly from big, broad statements to light, delicate timbres, bringing the same clarity and meaning to interior lines and layers as they did to the piece’s biggest moments. Renes led the orchestra through a fascinating rendition of the piece that included grand swells and ebbs, ensemble precision, [and] musical clarity.”

(Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 2015)

“The biggest share of praise, however, is due to conductor Lawrence Renes, who kept the singers precisely in tension while bringing his orchestra to a level of precision and dynamism I’ve never heard them equal. As a result Benjamin’s score emerged in this intimate acoustic with a clarity and immediacy I found neither in Aix nor in London… the results are overwhelming.” 5 stars

(Guy Dammann, The Financial Times, January 2015)

“In the Shostakovich symphony, where feverish tension plays so major a role, [Renes’ beat] fired a brutish, trenchant response.”

(Ken Walton, The Scotsman, May 2014)

“Lawrence Renes draws a lustre and responsiveness as to confirm his rapport with musicians whose Chief Conductor he has been since 2012. One hopes he will be heard on disc with this orchestra again before long.”

(Richard Whitehouse, International Record Review, February 2014)