Dr. Lauren Spaulding is a violist, chamber musician, educator, and arts administrator whose career spans performance, artistic programming, artist development, and the creation of innovative and connective musical experiences. Lauren is particularly drawn to music that crosses boundaries—bringing historical repertoire into conversation with living composers, contemporary musical traditions, and new ways of experiencing classical music. Lauren’s work is grounded in the belief that music can be a powerful force for community and human connection.
Lauren is a member of the Toronto-based Thalea String Quartet, with whom Lauren performs and teaches internationally. Thalea served as Quartet in Residence at the University of Toronto from 2024–25, where the ensemble performed, coached chamber music, presented workshops, and taught a weekly chamber music class. The Calgary Herald praised the quartet for never failing “to deliver a stirring performance.” Lauren also performs with the Toronto Symphony and Tafelmusik, and is a member of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra. Lauren is the co-founder of the viola duo Tallā Rouge, whose GRAMMY-winning album Shapes in Collective Space explores genre-defying approaches to the viola and new music. Gramophone Magazine described Tallā Rouge as “a musical journey that travels far and wide across ‘genre-defying compositions.’”
Alongside performing, Lauren has built a parallel career in arts administration, artist development, and the growth of live music organizations. Lauren is the Founder of Red Rock Strings, a Denver-based booking company connecting string musicians with major artists and productions at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Lauren also spent five years with Listeso Music Group, serving as Expansion Manager and Director of Artistic Operations, where Lauren helped build and scale the company’s artist and booking operations across more than 60 cities in the United States and Canada.
Lauren brings these two sides of her career together as Director of Artistic Operations and a performing artist with the Belvedere Series, working at the intersection of artistic vision, programming, artists, and audiences. Lauren is interested in creating performances that feel immediate and human while placing new music in dialogue with the rich history of the classical tradition.
An experienced educator, Lauren has taught at the University of Maryland and was Ensemble-in-Residence with Tallā Rouge at Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard Research Institute, during the 2023–24 season. In Spring 2027, Lauren will return to Oberlin Conservatory as a visiting faculty member, covering a sabbatical for Lauren’s former teacher, violist Peter Slowik. Lauren holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland.
