Simon Andrews

Simon Andrews is an English composer who is earning a reputation as a creator of eloquent concert music that blends harmonic complexity and lyricism, introversion and broad gestures, delicate timbres and bold statements. His output ranges from large-scale orchestral works to intimate chamber music, with a special delight in chamber music with solo voices. He is a voracious reader of poetry and fiction, which provide the impulse for many of his compositions. Winner of the 1985 Benjamin Britten Prize, his music has been commissioned and performed to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. He moved to America in 1987, since when he has pursued a multifaceted career as composer, conductor, and teacher; a combination which led him to undertake his own edition completion of the Mozart Requiem, which also continues to garner both praise and performances on both sides of the pond.

After gaining a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, he lived in Pennsylvania for twenty-five years before moving to Massachusetts. He is currently working on his third string quartet Rilke episodes and a new opera Po’pay: the first American revolution. If you would like to order scores and parts of the pieces on this disc, peruse sample scores or listen to clips of other works, please visit simonwandrews.com.