A native of Rochdale, England, Martin Foster studied at the
Conservatoire de musique de Montréal where he was awarded a Premier Prix
with Distinction in 1970. Three years later, he received a Post-Graduate
Diploma from the celebrated Juilliard School in New York, as well as the
Morris Loeb and Édouard Steuermann awards. He names as his principal
teachers Dorothy DeLay, Robert Mann, Taras Gabora, Gilles Tremblay et
Harold Farberman.
At his Carnegie Hall début in 1973, public and critic discovered 'a violinist of more than ordinary gifts' (New York Times). In 1974 he co-founded the American String Quartet, and as first violinist of that ensemble, won the Coleman Competition, the Naumburg Award, and toured the U.S, Canada, Europe and Asia for six years.
Since his return to Canada in 1980, Martin Foster has been soloist with the Orchestre métropolitain du Grand-Montréal, the Orchestre symphonique de la Montérégie, the Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke and, on tours in Mexico and Atlantic Canada, the McGill Chamber Orchestra. He is heard in recital from Halifax to Vancouver, in Europe and Asia, and on the CBC, Hong Kong Radio, Radio-Canada and Vermont Public Radio. In 1988 following a North American tour, the government of Brazil awarded him the Villa-Lobos medal.. In 1989, he was named Concertmaster of Chamber Players of Toronto, and, in 1990, was soloist with that ensemble for a tour of Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Graz, Innsbruck, Wels and Vienna. He is a founding member of the Trio à cordes de Montréal, and he has recorded for RCA, CRI, SNE, and the Collection CD-UQAM.
In 1974 he began a prestigious teaching career at Juilliard. From 1976 to 1980 he was on the faculty of the Mannes College in New York, and, from 1981 to 1984, at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Since 1982 he is Professor of Violin at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Head of Strings, and Music Director of the orchestra and the Opera Workshop.
E-mail: Martin Foster