Marijn Simons: composer, conductor & violinist

COMPOSER: Marijn Simons (The Netherlands, 1982) is an internationally acclaimed composer. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by such conductors and soloists as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Marin Alsop, Peter Eötvös, James MacMillan, Christian Lindberg, Evelyn Glennie, Colin Currie, and by orchestras and ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, The Hague Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. His works have had premières in famous concert venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Cologne Philharmonic Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), National Centre for the Arts (Mexico City) and the Hanoi Opera House. Simons has composed three operas: Emilia Galotti (2013-2014), Lachesis (2018-2020), and Woyzeck (2022-2024). Currently, he is working on his fourth opera, The Kidnapping of Charlie Chaplin, commissioned by the State Theatre in Linz (Austria).

CONDUCTOR: Marijn Simons has conducted, amongst others, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie (Koblenz), Orquesta Sinfónica del IPN (Mexico City), Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Guatemala, National Radio Chamber Orchestra (Bucharest), and the State Philharmonic Orchestra of Sibiu. Programmes often include his works or premières by composers such as Fazil Say, Christian Lindberg, Gabriela Ortiz, and Willem Jeths.

VIOLINIST: Marijn Simons has performed worldwide as a violinist. Highlights from his solo career include the world première of Villa-Lobos’s violin concerto Fantasia de Movimentos Mixtos with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico conducted by Enrique Diemecke, the Italian première of Milhaud’s 2nd violin concerto with the Orquesta Sinfónica Siciliana and the Dutch première of MacMillan’s violin concerto A Deep but Dazzling Darkness with the Radio Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer.