About Lorenzo
Praised for his "beautiful tone" and "exceptional quality of nobility in his playing," Filipino violinist and violist Lorenzo Raval is acclaimed for his versatility and dedication to the numerous aspects of his instruments - as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. Lorenzo’s playing can be heard on the 2018 GRAMMY Winning recording of Lansing McCloskey's Zealot Canticles with Donald Nally and The Crossing, and in the 2018 Netflix movie Candy Jar. Recently Lorenzo was violinist for the Philadelphia and Baltimore shows of Stevie Wonder’s 2024 US Tour.
Lorenzo is an active performer in the Philadelphia region, regularly playing both violin and viola with the Bay Atlantic Symphony, Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey, and Bucks County Symphony Orchestra. Lorenzo is also a violinist for musical productions with the Arden Theatre Company.
Born and raised in Quezon City, Philippines, Lorenzo received his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Master of Music degree in Viola Performance from the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. He also attended the University of the Phillipines as a violin and music education major, and was a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts.
His teachers include violinists Alfonso Bolipata, Helen Kwalwasser and Odin Rathnam, and violist Che-Hung Chen. His chamber music coaches have included Charles Abramovic, Alfonso Bolipata, Rhonda Rider, Jeffrey Solow, Valissa Willwerth and Lambert Orkis, and he has performed at the masterclasses of violinists Pamela Frank, Oscar Yatco, Alexandru Tomescu, Thanos Adamopoulos and Takako Nishizaki, violist Kim Kashkashian, and the Emerson, Alexander, St. Lawrence and Ying Quartets.
A two-time prizewinner at the Philippines' National Music Competition for Young Artists in 1999 and 2002, Lorenzo has appeared as soloist with the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra, the University of Santo Tomas Symphony Orchestra and the Pundaquit Chamber Players, and has given recitals at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Francisco Santiago Hall, and Corpus Hall at Casa San Miguel. He was first violinist of the Corpus String Quartet and was violinist and violist with the Pundaquit Chamber Players, performing chamber music in concert halls and alternative performance spaces in Manila, Zambales, Ilocos, Boracay, and Davao.
A dedicated and enthusiastic teacher, Lorenzo was Resident Artist at Casa San Miguel in Zambales, Philippines from 2000 to 2006, where he taught violin and viola, and coached and conducted the Pundaquit Virtuosi, an ensemble composed of the best young string players from the Zambales community. Lorenzo was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Temple University's Community Music Scholars Program, and was a faculty member at the Leopold Mozart Academy in Elkins Park and Community Music School in Trappe, Pennsylvania.
Lorenzo plays on a fine contemporary violin modeled after the 1740 Ysaÿe Guarneri del Gesu, made for him in 2020 by R. Alex Wilson of Salt Lake City. He lives in South Philadelphia where he maintains a small studio of dedicated students and, along with his wife, takes care of their adorable border terrier Zoey.