Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and the Orchestre philharmonique de Marseille. Foster was born in Los Angeles, California, to Romanian parents. His father died when Foster was three years old. He was later adopted by his father-in-law which is why the last name is not traditionally Romanian. Foster studied conducting with German conductor Fritz Zweig and piano with Joanna Grauden, both in Los Angeles. His other teachers and mentors have included Karl Böhm, Bruno Walter, and Franz Waxman. Foster became the conductor of the San Francisco Ballet at the age of 18, and served as assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Z...read more