A native of Los Angeles, Laurence Lesser was a top prizewinner in the 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and a participant in the historic Heifetz-Piatigorsky concerts and recordings. He has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic and other major orchestras. His New York debut recital in 1969 was greeted as "triumphant" and “magical.” His Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations in Hamburg, Die Welt stated, “could not have been more thoroughly realized than is this staggering performance.” 

He has also been a member of the New England Conservatory faculty since 1974, and president of the school from 1983 through 1996. He has also been a member of juries for numerous international competitions, including chairing the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1994.