Carter Larsen

Carter Larsen (1955 – Present) is an American composer, pianist, teacher and conductor.

The current excitement of Carter Larsen's music originates from his extensive versatility in composing, performing and recording. With a background as a young American pianist in Europe, Carter Larsen has taken the music world by storm. He made his name conducting and performing over 400 concerts to electrifying public and critical acclaim, performing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra as soloist, with television appearances and broadcasts on BBC television, and Europe's largest FM stations. Larsen's new music video "Appassionato" can be seen regularly on national cable television and PBS on the Classic Art Showcase.

Carter Larsen became renowned for his spirited performances of the High Romantics. In particular, his interpretations of rare works by composers Liszt, Grieg, Rachmaninoff and Saint-Saens made a significant contribution to the Romantic Revival and won him great acclaim from both audiences and critics alike.

Larsen also began to establish himself as a serious composer premiering four original compositions alongside the classics, which were broadcast on Classic FM's prestigious "Platform Live" from the UK. He simultaneously became a favorite to outdoor audiences, up to 17,000, performing at London’s Kenwood Concerts.

Larsen's passion for composing has created numerous works with performances on PBS, BBC, FM stations and cable television worldwide. His talents have extended to scores for film. He has written music for major studios, such as Paramount and Fox, as well as feature films that premiered at Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals. Currently he is scoring Martin Scorsese's film "Something To Believe In", directed by Bonnie Palef and featuring the Dalai Lama.

Larsen has seamlessly bridged the worlds of performing and composing - classical and film. London critic Christopher Wood puts it best - "Here is a composer with European sensibilities and yet a natural affinity with the world of Hollywood".

Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Larsen composed in his teens, and was the youngest composition student at Juilliard's summer home in Aspen. He graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, pursuing a dual career as composer and pianist. He studied under Conservatory president Milton Salkind (piano) and the legendary John Adams (conducting and composition), subsequently working with Peter Feuchtwanger and Ruth Nye in London, as well as Vlado Perlemuter in Paris.

Larsen found acclaim and was based in London for 18 years, with summers spent in Gstaad, Switzerland. He was recognized as a new romantic with intense sensitivity. In his London debut, The Guardian stated his pieces were executed with "delicacy, taste, and smooth continuity of line broken only for dramatic effect. Larsen's romantic sensibilities were evident throughout". The Daily Telegraph was particularly impressed with his "fluency and panache". According to The Times, "Mr. Larsen was at his most beguiling, alike in tonal charm and tenderness of phrasing".

Carter Larsen became a prolific performing and recording artist of original compositions, world premieres, film music and classics with prime coverage on radio and television throughout Europe and the USA.

His work diversified in composing the score for the 2001 theatrical production of "Dracula" as well as his appearances in his own music videos "Awakening Elegie" and "Appassionato".

Carter Larsen has been asked to compose music for a variety of prestigious films, including Paramount's "Star Trek" as well as new releases of the original "Nosferatu" and "The Mark of Zorro". He also scored original music and worked on several Hollywood productions including "Scarecrow" and "Pierced Heart". Larsen's passion for scoring film and television music was manifest in his recent films, "The Innocents Mission" and "Love Bytes", which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Larsen's latest feature "Big Shots" premiered at Cannes.

He composed original scoring for over thirty independent and studio feature films, including Fox and Paramount, as well as PBS, BBC and Discovery. His film credits include: Something To Believe In, The Innocents Mission, Nosferatu, Scarecrow, Canons and Flowers, The Mark of Zorro, Love Bytes, Impressions, Pierced Heart,The Healing Chamber, O My God, Pleasing Mona, Bridges and Beyond, Appassionato, Scarecrow, Awakening Elegie and Big Shots.

Carter Larsen Music Publishing Inc. was founded in 1995; a music licensing company holding rights to original music as well as a library of source music, in association with master and post-production houses.

Carter Larsen also established himself as a versatile recording artist with CDs including Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn, Granados, Liszt, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Chopin and Beethoven among others, as well as with film music and several recordings of his own original music. His "Romantic Rarities" was cited by BBC Radio as "A sample of Carter Larsen's versatility and complete mastery in every way".

In 1999 he founded Montage Media, a record company recording and distributing film soundtracks, classical and original music.

Edition Isolde was also founded in 1999, producing the printed publication of music; with music copying in New Zealand, and printing in Los Angeles.

His 1998 tour included five London concerts in which Carter conducted and performed original compositions and film music alongside the classics. In May 1999, Larsen's European tour culminated in a recording of original music in a live performance at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.

In 2003, Larsen was honored with a six part series of concerts at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. The series began January 25 when the acclaimed composer himself performed his original music including the premiere of his latest work "Constellations". The concerts that followed featured an array of local and international artists performing the music of Carter Larsen.

External links

* [http://www.carterlarsen.com/CLbio.htm Official web site]