Boston-based violist Lauren Nelson is a versatile chamber and orchestral musician who is equally at home on both modern and historically informed instruments. As a Waldorf student in rural New Hampshire, she fostered a love for the arts from an early age. Inspired by the collaborative spirit of chamber music, she quickly recognized that her viola would be a lifelong companion.

She performs regularly with Handel + Haydn Society and Boston Baroque, and has appeared on stages across the US, Canada and Europe on the Baroque and modern viola, including at festivals Valley of the Moon, Berwick Academy American Bach soloists and Tafelmusik.

An advocate of contemporary music, Lauren is the violist of the Semiosis Quartet, whose recent projects include a residency at Tanglewood celebrating Black composer, Joseph Bologne, and a program of works by female composers supported by the American Music Project. She also performs and records with Emmanuel Music, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Cantata Singers, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, and Monadnock Music.

When she’s not practicing or performing you can find Lauren playing with her daughter, or deep in the woods, foraging for mushrooms with her husband, composer Steven Snowden.