About

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

Lauren performs internationally as a violinist, most recently appearing with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra to perform Dvořák’s Violin Concerto.  In 2020, as a winner of the annual Juilliard Orchestra competition, Lauren premiered the first movement of her violin concerto with The Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall.  She premiered and recorded the second movement of her violin concerto in collaboration with the Next Festival of Emerging Artists and National Sawdust in 2019.  Lauren is the First Prize Winner of the 2023 Alexander & Buono International String Competition, the 2022 Grand Prize Winner of the Bellagrande International Music Competition, and a recipient of a Career Prize in the 2025 Swiss International Music Competition. 

As a composer, Lauren has received numerous national and international awards, including recognition from BMI, ASCAP, National Young Arts, Tribeca New Music, and MTNA.  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.  In 2025, Lauren had the pleasure of scoring filmmaker Edna Biesold’s feature film debut, Zeitlang. Lauren was commissioned by conductor Harold Rosenbaum and The New York Virtuoso Singers, who premiered her choral work, Travelling, in spring 2024.  Later that spring, Lauren conducted the premiere of her opera, Hludana, at ZHdK.  Lauren has also collaborated extensively with dancers and was a featured composer at the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of the New York City Ballet. Composer mentors have included John Adams, David Ludwig, Aaron Jay Kernis, Stephen Coxe, Eric Nathan, and Christopher Theofanidis.   

As a conductor, Lauren studied with Maestro Jeffrey Milarksy at The Juilliard School and Maestro Marc Kissoczy at ZHdK.  She also participated in masterclasses with Maestros Toby Purser, Matthew Lynch, Johannes Wildner, and Neil Thompson.  Most recently, she conducted a performance with the Berlin Sinfonietta in November 2024. 

An animal rights advocate and vegan of seven years, Lauren performs using synthetic bow hair as well as a synthetic leather bow grip.  She is invested in discovering and promoting cruelty-free alternatives for animal products that are typically used in string playing.