Simon Crawford-Phillips

Simon Crawford-Phillips is developing an unusually diverse career as soloist, chamber musician and song accompanist. Studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London were followed by a Masters Degree and a Fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he now holds a teaching position.  He also teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama in Sweden.

During the 2005 season, Simon performed a series of Beethoven concertos with ViVA, the Orchestra of the East Midlands, Stravinsky’s Capriccio with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival and appeared at Wigmore Hall and the City of London and Chester Festivals.  Concerto plans in 2005/6 include Shostakovich and Mozart with ViVA and in Sweden, Schumann at the Dore Abbey Festival and Strauss with the English Chamber Orchestra.  The 2006/7 season includes concerto performances with the English Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Orchestra and at the Barbican with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.  In 2007, Simon made his concerto debut in Japan with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert.

Simon frequently works with singers such as Emma Bell, Measha Bruggergosman, Alice Coote, James Gilchrist, Andrew Kennedy, and James Rutherford, and instrumentalists Emily Beynon, Natalie Clein, Colin Currie, Martin Frost, Janine Jansen, Pekka Kuusisto, Sergei Krylov, Krysia Osostowicz, Lawrence Power, Christian Poltera, and Ronald van Spaendonck.  He also appears regularly as a guest with the Nash Ensemble, ECO chamber ensemble, Leopold String Trio and the Dante and Royal String Quartets.

Simon is a founding member of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio, which was selected in 2000 for the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme. In 2003, the trio made its Carnegie Hall debut and appeared at major European Concert Halls, including the Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus and Cologne Philharmonie.  Concerts in 2005 included debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie, Schwetzinger Festspiele and Muziekcentrum Vredensburg in Utrecht and a tour of Argentina and Uruguay.  2007 took the trio on tour to Australia and New Zealand. The trio has recorded for the NAXOS and BIS labels.

In 2001 Simon made his BBC Proms debut with his piano duo partner Philip Moore and in 2004 the Duo received a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship and were appointed Steinway Artists. Highlights in 2005 included debut concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Edinburgh Festival, along with return visits to the South Bank, Bridgewater Hall and Wigmore Hall.  A new Concerto for two pianos by the German composer Detlev Glanert and commissioned for the Duo was premièred in 2008.

A perfomer at many of the European festivals (Bath, City of London, Cheltenham, Dubrovnik, Edinburgh, Mecklenburg, Montpelier, Obertsdorf, Oslo, Schwetzinger, Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein and Verbier), Simon has also been invited to the Open Chamber Music Sessions at Prussia Cove in Cornwall.  Chamber music collaborations have included concerts at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the BBC Proms.

In addition to radio and television broadcasts in Europe, Australia and Japan he has also recorded for the Harmonia Mundi, Deux-Elles and Spex CD labels. Further recordings are planned for Hyperion and Chandos.

In May 2003, Simon was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.