Lamar alsop biography

Concertmaster and multi-instrumentalist who was born in Murray, Utah, into a family where his father was a chemist and he had seven brothers and sisters.

His main instrument was the viola, but he also played the clarinet, saxophone, and violin, and was regarded as a world-class whistler.

He and his wife Ruth were active with the New York City Ballet Orchestra for years and years, he as concertmaster and violinist, and she as a cellist.

Their daughter Marin went on to become a conductor and violinist in her own right, and they frequently performed together.

Lamar managed to fashion a career that allowed him to flit effortlessly from genre to genre, and amassed a huge discography, as well as being in demand as a live performer.

One of his earliest live gigs was of the unusual ilk, accompanying Yoko Ono for a piece of performance art entitled “Of a Grapefruit in the World of Park”, as part of “An Evening of Contemporary Japanese