SOREN LORENTZEN, VIOLA

Soren Lorentzen is an accomplished young violist from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. He started on violin at age 6 but took up viola as well a few years later, choosing to focus mainly on viola at age 14. He studied for 7 years with well-known Canadian violist, Nick Pulos, in Calgary, Alberta, before entering the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas, to study with Professor James Dunham. Soren’s greatest interest is chamber music, and he has been participating both as a violinist and violist in chamber groups since the age of 9. His unique chamber group, a viola/cello/guitar trio won the Alberta Music Festival Association’s highest provincial honour (Senior Chamber) in 2019, and his viola/cello duo won the Medicine Hat Rotary Music Festival Rose Bowl in 2020. Twice, in quartets in which he has been the violist, his groups were invited (on full scholarship) to participate in the Rolston/Szekely Young Artist Program at the Banff Centre during BISQC week (2016, 2019). As a soloist, he has received many awards in both violin and viola from local and provincial festivals. He is a three-time winner of the Medicine Hat Symphonic Society’s Concerto Competition. He is a Gold Medal winner of the Alberta Music Festival Association’s Provincial Festival in classes of 16/under Viola, Senior Viola, and String & Keyboard Sonata. Soren has participated in summer programs such as the National Arts Centre’s Young Artist Program in Ottawa, Domaine Forget in Quebec, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and Valhalla Summer School of Music. He has worked with some of today’s best musicians and teachers, including Joel Krosnik, Gerald Stanick, Barry Shiffman, and Neal Gripp to name a few. Volunteering with music, in particular sharing it with those who find it otherwise difficult to access, is an important part of Soren’s life, and in 2019 he was honoured with the Alberta Music Education Foundation’s Student Recognition Award for Community Service. At Rice, he is an active member of the Shepherd Community, participating in chamber music as well as chamber and symphonic orchestras, and volunteers with music whenever possibly, through programs such as Rice MD’s, and Autry House.