Abbey Simon

Abbey Simon
Background information
Born (1922-01-08) January 8, 1922
New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres Classical
Instruments Piano
Years active 1940–present
Website http://www.abbeysimon.com/

Abbey Simon (born January 8, 1922) is an American concert pianist, teacher, and recording artist. He was a pupil of Josef Hofmann at the Curtis Institute of Music and a winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition in 1940. He has been called a "supervirtuoso" by The New York Times.

Education

Simon began lessons with David Saperton at the age of five. At the age of eight, Simon was accepted by Josef Hofmann as a scholarship student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he trained with classmates Jorge Bolet and Sidney Foster. Simon also took lessons from Leopold Godowsky[1] and Harold Bauer. Shortly after graduation, he debuted at the Town Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City. He was the winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition in 1940.

Professional career

Simon has performed to critical acclaim. The critic Harold C. Schonberg of the New York Times[2] once hailed Simon as a "supervirtuoso." Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer wrote, "Simon's recital offered more than a glimpse into the fabled golden age of piano playing... His virtuosity is marked not only by speed, power, lightness and accuracy but also by intricate interplay of voices and lambent colors."[3]

Simon has toured in Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific. He has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Trenton Symphony Orchestra.

Simon has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the Geneva Conservatory. He has served on the faculties of Indiana University, Manhattan School of Music, Hunter College, and the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. His students include pianists Frederic Chiu, Karen Shaw, John Kamitsuka, Erika Nickrenz, Richard Dowling, Roger Wright, Andrew Cooperstock, David Korevaar, Terence Yung and Martha Argerich.[4]

In addition to performing, teaching, and recording as a musical artist, Abbey Simon has served jury member of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the Geneva International Music Competition, the Leeds International Piano Competition, the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition, the Sydney International Piano Competition, and the South Africa International Piano Competition.

Simon currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland and Houston, Texas where he is currently Distinguished Cullen Professor of Piano at the Moores School of Music.

Abbey Simon is a Yamaha Artist.

Awards and honors

Discography

In addition to performing and teaching, Abbey Simon has recorded extensively under the VOX, Philips, HMV labels. His discography includes the complete works of Frédéric Chopin and Maurice Ravel, major works of Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann, as well as all of the piano concerti of Sergei Rachmaninoff with Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

References

  1. ↑ Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Seventh Edition, Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky, Schimer Books, New York, 1984
  2. ↑ Schonberg, Harold C. "Simon Shapes Pianistic Elements; The Program", The New York Times, May 4, 1978
  3. ↑ Dyer, Richard "Simon's keyboard of many colors", "The Boston Globe", March 18, 1997
  4. ↑ Minaldi, Donald Musician of the Year 2001 Martha Argerich, "Musical America", 2001

External links

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