Simon Tedeschi

Last updated

Simon Tedeschi
Simon Tedeschi.jpg
Background information
Born (1981-05-01) 1 May 1981 (age 42)
Gosford, Australia
Occupation(s) Pianist
Website simontedeschi.com

Simon Tedeschi (born 1 May 1981) is an Australian classical pianist and writer.

Contents

Early life

Tedeschi was born in Gosford to Mark Tedeschi QC, Senior Crown Prosecutor for New South Wales, [1] and doctor Vivienne Tedeschi, the daughter of a Polish Holocaust survivor, Lucy Gershwin. [2]

Raised in a Jewish household, he grew up on the North Shore of Sydney [3] and attended Beaumont Road Public School in West Killara [4] and St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney where the headmaster discouraged him from taking part in sports lest he damage his hands. [5]

His teachers were Neta Maughan in Australia, Noretta Conci in England and Peter Serkin in USA.

When he was 9 years old, Tedeschi performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19, K.459 in the Sydney Opera House. At age 13, he played for Luciano Pavarotti [ citation needed ].

Career

Tedeschi signed with Sony Music Australia in 2000. [6] His debut CD, Simon Tedeschi, was nominated for at the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 for Best Classical Album. [7] In 2004 he recorded Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto and Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Richard Bonynge. His album, Grieg / Tchaikovsky – Piano Concertos, peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Classical chart in October 2005. [8]

In November 2012 he released his next album, Gershwin and Me (Universal Music Group/ABC), which reached No. 4 on the ARIA Classical, No. 5 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums, No. 68 on the ARIA Top 100 Physical Albums charts in January 2013. [9] In that year, a follow-up album, Gershwin Take 2, by Tedeschi with James Morrison and Sarah McKenzie was issued. [10] It received two ARIA Award nominations in 2014 for Virginia Read's work as engineer and producer. [11]

He released a recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for ABC/Universal [12] and performed Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto no. 4 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. [13]

Media

He appeared regularly on the TV show Spicks and Specks on ABC TV, [14] and he participated in the Oscar-winning movie Shine , where he played the hands of David Helfgott. [15] [16]

Writing

In 2022, Tedeschi published his first book entitled Fugitive, an unclassifiable work encompassing prose poetry, philosophy, memoir, meditation, aphorism and essay; the title is a reference to Prokofiev's collection of piano miniatures, Visions fugitives . [17] It was shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry. [18] In May 2022, Tedeschi was announced as the winner of the Australian Book Review 's Calibre Prize for his essay "This woman my grandmother". [19] Fugitive was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection at the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards. [20]

Work for children

He played the role of Mozart in Sydney Opera House's Babies Proms, [21] and performed a show based on his childhood, Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster at the Monkey Baa Theatre Company. [22]

Personal life

Tedeschi currently lives in Sydney with his wife, painter Loribelle Spirovski. [17]

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected details
TitleDetails
Simon Tedeschi
  • Released: 2000
  • Format: CD
  • Label:
Piano Concertos: Tchaikovsky, Grieg
(with The Queensland Orchestra & Richard Bonynge)
  • Released: 2006
  • Format: CD
  • Label:
Simon Tedeschi & Ian Cooper
(with Ian Cooper)
  • Released: 2008
  • Format:
  • Label:
Gershwin & Me
  • Released: 2012
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0032)
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23, KV488
(with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra & Alexander Briger)
  • Released: 2013
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0189)
Gershwin & Me: Take Two
  • Released: 2013
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0629)
Tender Earth: Australian Music for Piano
  • Released: 2014
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0960)
Enoch Arden
(with Alfred Tennyson, Richard Strauss & John Bell)
  • Released: 2017
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 5558)
A Winter's Tale
(with Roger Benedict)
  • Released: 2018
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 6751)

Awards

Tedeschi was awarded the ABC Young Performer of the Year in 1998, [23] performing the Ginastera Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jun Markl. He was also the winner of the top prize in the keyboard section of the Royal Overseas League Music Competition in London (2002). [24]

In January 2001 Tedeschi was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal by the then Prime Minister of Australia John Howard with a citation, "For service as a Young Australian of the Year Finalist." [25]

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

YearNominee / workAwardResultRef.
2000 Simon Tedeschi Best Classical Album Nominated [26]
2006 Piano Concertos: Tchaikovsky, Grieg (with The Queensland Orchestra & Richard Bonynge)Best Classical AlbumNominated
2014 Virginia Read for Gershwin: Take Two Engineer of the Year Nominated
Producer of the Year Nominated
2023 Debussy – Ravel (with Roger Benedict)Best Classical AlbumNominated [27]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Ashkenazy</span> Icelandic pianist and conductor from Russia

Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Born in the Soviet Union, he has held Icelandic citizenship since 1972 and has been a resident of Switzerland since 1978. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, he has recorded a large repertoire of classical and romantic works. His recordings have earned him five Grammy awards and Iceland's Order of the Falcon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elena Kats-Chernin</span> Australian composer and pianist (born 1957)

Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin is a Soviet-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet Wild Swans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yundi</span> Chinese classical concert pianist (born 1982)

Yundi Li, also known mononymously as Yundi, is a Chinese classical concert pianist. Yundi is especially known for his interpretation of Chopin, Liszt and Prokofiev. He is also referred as a Master in Chopin and one of the finest interpreters of Chopin.

Stephanie McCallum is an Australian classical pianist. She has recorded works of Erik Satie, Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Carl Maria von Weber, Albéric Magnard, Pierre Boulez, and Iannis Xenakis among others.

Carl Edward Vine, is an Australian composer of contemporary classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Tozer</span> Musical artist

Geoffrey Peter Bede Hawkshaw Tozer was an Australian classical pianist and composer. A child prodigy, he composed an opera at the age of eight and became the youngest recipient of a Churchill Fellowship award at 13. His career included tours of Europe, America, Australia and China, where he performed the Yellow River Concerto to an estimated audience of 80 million people. Tozer had more than 100 concertos in his repertoire, including those of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Bartók, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Gerhard.

Yeol Eum Son is a world renowned South Korean classical pianist. She is particularly esteemed as an interpreter of the Classical era of composers, especially Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, as well as such later composers as Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. Son regularly performs as soloist with prominent orchestras and eminent conductors.

Howard Gordon Shelley is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. He was married to fellow pianist Hilary Macnamara till her death in 2021, with whom he performed and recorded in a two-piano partnership, and they have two sons.

Richard Leo Tognetti AO is a leading Australian musician recognised internationally as a violin soloist, ensemble player, leader, composer and arranger, conductor and artistic director.

David Fung is a concert pianist. Fung was born in Sydney, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy Tahu Rhodes</span> New Zealand baritone opera singer

Teddy Tahu Rhodes is a New Zealand operatic baritone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara-Anna Cislowska</span> Australian musician

Tamara-Anna Cislowska is an Australian concert pianist. She has performed across many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, South America, Italy, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, The Netherlands and Poland, and has played with the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic and Romanian Philharmonic orchestras as well as all six major Australian symphony orchestras.

Dene Maxwell Olding is an Australian violinist. He has had a distinguished career as a soloist in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, performing over forty concertos in recent years, including many world premieres. He is the Concertmaster Emeritus of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, first violinist in the Goldner String Quartet, and a member of the Australia Ensemble.

Peter Jablonski is a Swedish concert pianist.

Ian Munro is an Australian pianist, composer, and music educator. His career has taken him to many countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia.

Gerard Willems AM is a Dutch- Australian classical pianist and teacher. He was the first Australian pianist to record the complete series of 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. He also recorded Beethoven's five piano concertos, the Diabelli Variations, C minor variations, Andante favori, Für Elise and the 3 Electoral "Kurfürstensonaten" sonatas as well as a reconstructed "Fantasy Sonata in D". These recordings feature the Australian designed and manufactured Stuart & Sons piano. This series of recordings constitutes the largest classical music recording project ever undertaken in Australia, and Willems became the best selling classical artist in Australia's recording history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayson Gillham</span> Australian pianist

Jayson Lloyd Gillham is a British-Australian classical pianist, based in London. In 2014, Gillham was the winner of the 2014 Montreal International Musical Competition, which brought him to international attention. His outstanding performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 was described in the Huffington Post as being played 'with such streamlined patrician elegance that he took home First Prize and a string of engagements...' The renowned British conductor Sir Mark Elder said Gillham 'plays Beethoven with a sort of ‘glow’'. In May 2015, Gillham signed a three-album deal with ABC Classics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seong-Jin Cho</span> South Korean pianist (born 1994)

Seong-Jin Cho is a South Korean pianist. He rose to fame within South Korea and the international classical music world in 2015 after winning the XVII International Chopin Piano Competition, becoming the first pianist from his country to do so.

Grant Foster is an Australian composer, pianist, teacher and novelist. He was the co-founder and inaugural Artistic Director of the Southern Highlands International Piano Competition. His musical is lyrical and romantic, and he is well-known in Russia, despite being relatively unknown in his own country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Broberg</span> Musical artist

Kenneth Broberg is an American classical pianist. In June 2017 he won the silver medal at the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In June 2019 Broberg earned the third prize and bronze medal at The XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition. In June 2021 he received the American Pianists Association award.

References

  1. Sharon Verghis (2 July 2010). "Hearing a different beat". The Australian . Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. "Two of Us : Lucy Gershwin And Simon Tedeschi". library.deakin.edu.au. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. "Member Profile – Simon Tedeschi", advance.org
  4. "Pianist Simon Tedeschi visits his old school Beaumont Road Public School in Killara" by Danielle Nicastri, North Shore Times , 29 June 2014
  5. "Old Andrean: Simon Tedeschi" Archived 14 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine by Melanie Pennington, Inspired (St Andrews' school paper), 2014, pp. 6–7
  6. "Simon Tedeschi [sound recording] : [Gartner/Friedman, Scarlatti, Gershwin, Mageau, Palmgren, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Bach, Agnew, Shchedrin, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Seiber, Waller, Morton]. – Version details". Trove . Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  7. "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2000". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  8. Thomas, Tara (31 October 2005). "Week Commencing ~ 31st October 2005 ~ Issue #818" (PDF). The ARIA Report (818). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  9. Wallace, Ian (14 January 2013). "Week Commencing ~ 14th January 2013 ~ Issue #1194" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1194). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): 8, 21, 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  10. "Simon Tedeschi – Gershwin: Take Two". ABC Music. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  11. "2014 ARIA Awards Winners By Year". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  12. Unit, Commercial Development. "Simon Tedeschi – Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition". ABC Shop. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  13. "Sydney Symphony Orchestra | Symphony for the Common Man". sydneysymphony.com. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  14. ABC TV (19 February 2014), Spicks and Specks: Simon Tedeschi on Pianos, archived from the original on 11 August 2017, retrieved 23 April 2017
  15. Kelly Burke, "Of genius and geekdom", The Sydney Morning Herald , 18 September 1999, Spectrum, p. 3s
  16. Jane Albert, "The Face", The Weekend Australian , 31 March – 1 April 2001, Review, p. R3
  17. 1 2 Miriam Cosic (26 April 2022). "Simon Tedeschi: Key Change". Limelight . Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  18. "The 2023 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  19. Tedeschi, Simon (May 2022). "This woman my grandmother". Australian Book Review .(subscription required)
  20. "Queensland Literary Awards 2023 shortlists". Books+Publishing. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  21. "Sydney Opera House Babies Proms – Meeting Mozart in Beijing". en.damai.cn. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  22. "Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster » Riverside Parramatta". riversideparramatta.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  23. "ABC Classic FM – Young Performers Awards returns in 2017". ABC Classic FM. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017. The competition has been an important launch-pad for many successful music careers, unearthing an extraordinary number of talents including Simon Tedeschi
  24. "Royal Over-Seas League". Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  25. "Award Extract – Name Tedeschi, Simon". Australian Honours Search Facility. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  26. ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards – Winners by Award". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  27. "Nominees Announced for 2023 ARIA Awards". Music Feeds . 21 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.