Andrew George De Grado Foundation, Inc. 

Simon Mulligan

2002-2003 Season

London-born pianist Simon Mulligan was 19 when he celebrated his début at London's Barbican Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; a month later he recorded his first compact disc under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin. This led to a seven-year collaboration and friendship, culminating in what was to be Lord Menuhin's final concert in Dusseldorf, March 1999.

Simon performs and records internationally as a soloist and chamber musician; he recently signed an exclusive multi-album deal with Sony Classical. His compact disc recordings include Martinu's Triple Concerto (conducted by Menuhin) for Supraphon, Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition, his own Suite for Piano and Orchestra, and the Nocturnes of Chopin, to be released soon in the US on the Allegro label. For Nimbus, he has recorded four discs, including a première recording of music by concert pianist Alexis Weissenberg. This disc includes Simon’s own improvisations on Weissenberg’s songs and featured in several jazz and classical music publications, including Downbeat, JazzTimes and Gramophone magazines; it was awarded ‘Instrumental CD of the Month’ in BBC Music Magazine and Germany’s Fonoforum magazine as well as the Barnes and Noble and Amazon websites. Simon’s first disc for Sony will be released January 2003.

For five years, he was recital partner to cellist Lynn Harrell. Since 1998, he has toured with Joshua Bell throughout North America, Europe and the Far East. Highlights of their last recital tour include performances at Avery Fisher Hall, New York and the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Simon has also given concerts with Michael Collins, Paul Meyer, Frans Helmerson, Steven Isserlis, William Preucil and the King’s Singers. As pianist with the London International Quintet he has performed at the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires and the Berlin Philharmonic Hall.

Simon also composes for film and television and for his jazz quartet. Recent projects with film composer Michael Kamen include Kamen’s The New Moon In The Old Moon’s Arms recorded for Decca, conducted by Leonard Slatkin with the BBC Symphony. Simon features on the main theme to Kamen's score for Band of Brothers – the award-winning HBO television series produced by Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The Gstaad Festival commissioned him to arrange Copland's "Old American Songs" and Weill's songs from the "Threepenny Opera". Simon’s playing also features in the film “The Pianist”, starring Christopher Lambert and Dennis Hopper. Since 1986, his jazz quartet continues to perform at numerous festivals including London, Paris, Germany and Barbados.

A Music Scholar of St Paul's School, London, Simon’s teachers include Andrew Pledge and Alexander Kelly (whilst at the Royal Academy of Music) and Jaques Rouvier in Paris. Alfred Brendel invited Simon to study Beethoven before attending the Fondazione per il Pianoforte at Lake Como, Italy, where his mentors included Charles Rosen, Alexis Weissenberg and Murray Perahia.

www.simonmulligan.com