About

American violinist, composer, and conductor Lauren Vandervelden is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School, where she was a proud recipient of the John Erskine Prize for exceptional scholastic and artistic achievement. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Solo Violin Performance with international soloist Ilya Gringolts at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zürich, Switzerland.  Previously, Lauren studied composition with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Melinda Wagner and violin with Kurt Nikkanen, concertmaster of the New York City Ballet Orchestra.  

In June 2024, Lauren conducted the premiere of her opera, Hludana, at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.  She also recently attended several conducting masterclasses including the International Masterclasses Berlin with Johannes Wildner, the Muzik Fermata with Maestro Toby Purser in Oxford, and the Dirigierakademie with Maestro Matthew Lynch in Toronto. Lauren has studied conducting with Maestro Jeffrey Milarsky at The Juilliard School and Maestro Mark Kissoczy at the Zürcher Hochschule Der Künste. In addition, Lauren had the pleasure of collaborating with filmmaker Edna Biesold earlier in the year, scoring Biesold’s feature film debut, Zeitlang.

Lauren is the First Prize Winner of the 2023 Alexander & Buono International String Competition as well as the 2022 Grand Prize Winner of the Bellagrande International Music Competition for violin performance.  In addition, as a winner of the Juilliard Orchestra Competition in February 2020, Lauren was a soloist with The Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall, premiering the first movement of her Violin Concerto.  She also served as Guest Concertmaster for the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra in New York City and has performed her own compositions for Musaics of the Bay in collaboration with visual artists.

Lauren has received numerous national awards in composition, including recognition from BMI, ASCAP, National Young Arts, Tribeca New Music, the Manhattan International Music Competition, MTNA, NFMC, and the Frost School of Music.  Lauren’s compositions have been performed at notable venues including Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Davies Symphony Hall, New World Center, The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, and the Greek National Opera Alternative Stage.  Lauren was recently commissioned by conductor Harold Rosenbaum and The New York Virtuoso Singers, who premiered her choral work, Travelling, in spring 2024.  Lauren was also a featured composer at the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of the New York City Ballet.

Lauren seeks to bring an operatic, narrative quality to her compositions, drawing and expanding upon the realm of tonal harmony as a means of channeling great expressivity.  She is inspired by the beauty of nature, striving to express its sublimity in her music.

Lauren’s composer mentors have included John Adams, David Ludwig, and Aaron Jay Kernis; she has participated in violin masterclasses and lessons with Midori, Renaud Capuçon, Tomo Keller, Bella Hristova, Stefan Jackiw, Sarn Oliver, Kinga Augystyn, and Jeremy Constant.