Klaus Simon

Klaus Simon was born in Überlingen on Lake Constance and studied Music, German literature and Geography in Freiburg im Breisgau. Lessons in piano with Michael Leuschner and master classes with Aloys Kontarsky (piano) as well as Hans Zender and Johannes Kalitzke (conducting), moreover, complemented his education. He is the founder and artistic director of the Holst-Sinfonietta and the Opera Factory Freiburg, with whom he devotes himself primarily to the music of the 20th century.

His versatility as a conductor, pianist, arranger and editor acts as a testimony to his artistic personality, impossible to confine within a template. Klaus Simon's repertoire as a conductor and pianist ranges from classical to contemporary compositions, with an emphasis on classical modernism, 20th and 21st century British and American works, and minimal music.

Numerous recordings and CD recordings as conductor and Liedbegleiter (Schönberg, Berg, Korngold, Pfitzner, Schulhoff, Martinů, Szymanowski, Lutosławski, Ligeti, Britten, Adams, Schwantner, Reich, Vivier, HK Gruber, Eggert) for various broadcasting companies (BR, SWR, HR, SRF) and labels (CPO, Naxos, Spektral, Ars Musici, bastille musique) complements Klaus Simon's concert activities. His repertoire as a Liedbegleiter now includes more than 1200 Lieder and songs ranging from art songs to Broadway songs. In Freiburg, he initiated a series of song recitals with a focus on 20th century song, which has been ongoing since 2002. He collaborates with artists such as Sunhae Im, Siri Karoline Thornhill, Britta Stallmeister, Katharina Ruckgaber, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Uwe Schenker-Primus and Hans Christoph Begemann.

Klaus Simon has been honoured several times by the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, including in 2016 as a conductor and again in 2021 as a Liedbegleiter. In 2018, the CD recording of Luke Bedford's chamber opera Through his Teeth, which he recorded with the Opera Factory and the Holst Sinfonietta, received nominations in two categories for the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. He has also won prizes such as the 2017 International Classical Music Award (ICMA).

Klaus Simon's arrangements for ensemble, a project started in 2007 in the style of Arnold Schoenberg's "Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen" of key modernist works (by Mahler, Schoenberg, Berg and Ravel, among others), are published by Universal Edition and Schott Music and are held in high esteem worldwide by audiences and performers alike (e.g. Camerata RCO of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Bavarian State Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, Ensemble dell'Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, Ensemble MusikFabrik, Collegium Novum Zürich, Ensemble Kontrapunkte, Auricle Ensemble, Remix Ensemble, Zafraan Ensemble, JACK Quartet [&] Argento Chamber Ensemble as well as Kent Nagano, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gustavo Gimeno, John Storgårds, Benjamin Schwarz, Peter Keuschnig, Alan Gilbert or Titus Engel).