Geoffrey Simon
Conductor Geoffrey Simon has combined entrepreneurial prowess with his considerable musical talent to build an international conducting career. The founder of his own recording label, Cala Records, Simon is also featured on a number of recordings for mainstream labels Koch International and Chandos. He has appeared as a guest conductor with a number of prominent orchestras around the world.
Born in Adelaide, Australia, Simon studied piano performance at the University of Melbourne. After his graduation in 1968, Simon left for the United States in order to pursue graduate studies in cello performance at the Juilliard School. He describes his time there as formative, but intense: "If you're in New York and you're going to have a neurosis, that's the place to have it -- it was so intense, but at the same time, there were the most wonderful musical experiences happening."
In 1969, Simon moved to Bloomington, IN, so he could further his education as a cello student with noted pedagogue Janos Starker at Indiana University. That same year Simon also founded the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. He remained music director there until he left for the United Kingdom in 1973.
Taking advantage of his close proximity to Europe, Simon studied with a number of prominent conductors including Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Hans Swarowsky, and Igor Markevitch. He also made a number of appearances with significant British orchestras in the mid-'70s, including the Bournemouth Symphony. Although his London debut took place soon after these successes, Simon was unable to cement himself onto a more permanent career footing. In 1977, he lost the John Player Conductor's Award to Simon Rattle.
Simon returned to the United States in 1978, first as a professor of music at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee (until 1982), and later at North Texas State University in Denton (1982-1984). For three years, beginning in 1986, Simon served as the music director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra in New York. He held a similar position with the Sacramento Symphony from 1992 through 1996. Since 1997, Simon has been a conductor and advisor to the Northwest Mahler Festival.
In between his Albany and Sacramento appointments, Simon founded his own recording label Cala, based in London. In addition to featuring a number of Simon's own recordings, the label has featured some of London's finest instrumentalists in a series known as the London Sound. Simon has also been influential in releasing a large number of previously unavailable historical recordings conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
Some of Simon's later recordings include Danny Boy: The Immortal Irish Song (2006) and Milestones: 30 Years of Chandos (2009).
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Borodin: Requiem, Polovtsian Dances and Suite from Prince Igor
BBC Symphony Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon
Klassiek - Released by Signum-Cala on 18 sep. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Hamlet & Festival Overture
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Toneelmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 aug. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Respighi: Orchestral Works
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
French Ballet Music - L'Éventail de Jeanne & Les mariés de la tour Eiffel
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Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 feb. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana: The Bartered Bride & String Quartet "From My Life"
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Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 apr. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bloch: Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service)
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Missen, passies, requiems - Released by Chandos on 1 jan. 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian" and other Orchestral Works
Geoffrey Simon, London Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 sep. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Borodin : Requiem, Polovtsian Dances, In the Steppes of Central Asia, Nocturne, Petite Suite
Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Ian Boughton, Stephanie Chase, Margaret Field
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Respighi: Belkis, Queen of Sheba & Metamorphoseon
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Respighi: Church Windows & Brazilian Impressions
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Tchaikovsky: Music for Cello & Orchestra
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Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 jan. 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cool Brass
The London Sound, Geoffrey Simon
Klassiek - Released by Cala Records on 14 apr. 2015
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Hot Brass
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Klassiek - Released by Cala Records on 14 apr. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John Downey: Concerto for Double Bass
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Symphonie n° 2 - Romeo & Juliette (Ouverture Fantaisie)...
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Symfonische muziek - Released by Chandos on 1 mrt. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Piano Concerto Version), Pictures from Crimea
Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon
Concertmuziek - Released by Signum-Cala on 10 jul. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Belkis, Queen of Sheba-Suite, Metamorphoseon modi XII
Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 okt. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vitraux
Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon
Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 mei 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Hamlet & Romeo and Juliet Overture
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Klassiek - Released by Chandos on 1 sep. 1993
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Grainger: The Warriors
Geoffrey Simon, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Musical Concepts on 14 sep. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Holst, G.: Planets (The) (Gustav Holst - Nicolo Paganini)
Klassiek - Released by Capriole on 1 jan. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo