Lucas Harris, theorbo and lute

Lucas Harris began his musical life as a jazz guitarist in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. After graduating summa cum laude from Pomona College (Claremont, California), he studied for a year in Milan, Italy as one of the first group of scholars sponsored by the Marco Fodella Foundation. The following year he spent in Germany, studying with Stephen Stubbs and Andrew Lawrence-King at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen.

Since returning to North America in 1998, Lucas has quickly become one of the foremost continuo lutenists in the U.S. and Canada. He plays regularly with ensembles such as Apollo's Fire, Chatham Baroque, New York Collegium, Trinity Consort, Seattle Baroque, and the Smithsonian Chamber Players. Lucas's passion for Baroque theater has animated opera productions by the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Toronto Consort, the Boston Early Music Festival, and Opera Atelier. He has also given solo recitals recently on the New York Early Music Series, at St. Lawrence University, and at the Festival Lamèque and the Été musical series in New Brunswick. Lucas is now the regular lutenist with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and has been living in Toronto since early 2004. In 2005-6, Lucas's travels will take him outside North America to Edinburgh (ARTEK), Tel Aviv (La Broderie), Barcelona & London (Tafelmusik), and Stockholm (BIS recordings).

Lucas has been on faculty at Oberlin Conservatory's Baroque Performance Institute since 2002, where he directs a staged opera scene project. He has also served on faculty for the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, the Lute Society of America Summer Seminar, and the New York Continuo Collective.