Simon Over attended
King Henry VIII School in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, UK. He subsequently studied at the
Conservatorium van Amsterdam
The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...
, the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
and the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
(at
Keble College
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
).
From 1992 to 2002, Over was a member of the music staff of
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
, and Director of Music at both St Margaret's Church and the
Chapel of St Mary Undercroft
The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft is a Church of England chapel located in the Palace of Westminster, London, England. The chapel is accessed via a flight of stairs in the south east corner of Westminster Hall.
It had been a crypt below St St ...
in the Palace of Westminster. He is the Founder-Conductor of the UK Parliament Choir and has conducted all the choir's performances in conjunction with the
City of London Sinfonia
City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is an English chamber orchestra based in London. CLS performs regularly across the city of London in venues from East London clubs to traditional Central London concert halls. CLS is orchestra-in-residence at Opera ...
,
La Serenissima
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
,
The London Festival Orchestra and
Southbank Sinfonia
Southbank Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra founded in 2002. Composed of young professionals from around the world, each year it brings together 33 graduate musicians for a programme of performance and professional development.
The annual f ...
.
Over has been Music Director of Southbank Sinfonia since its formation in 2002 and has conducted many of its concerts throughout the UK and Europe in concert halls as diverse as
St George's Chapel
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...
,
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
;
St James's Palace
St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...
;
The Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
,
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
;
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
; a beer tent in
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
and a converted cowshed in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
. He has conducted Southbank Sinfonia in recordings with cellist
Raphael Wallfisch
Raphael Wallfisch (born 15 June 1953 in London) is a British cellist and professor of cello. As a soloist he performs regularly with leading orchestras around the world, as well as together with duo partner John York (piano), or as member of the ...
and tenor
Andrew Kennedy and in 2009 and 2010 conducted the orchestra in a total of 71 performances of a new production of ''Every Good Boy Deserves Favour'' (
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...
/
André Previn
André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
) at the
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
which received rave reviews.
In 2006, Over was appointed Conductor of the Malcolm Sargent Festival Choir and has been associated with the Samling Foundation in its work with young professional singers since its inception in 1996. Over is Artistic Director of the Music Festival in
Anghiari
Anghiari () is a hill town and municipality (''comune'') in the Province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy.
Bordering ''comuni'' include Arezzo (southwest), Pieve Santo Stefano (north) and Subbiano (west).
History
The Battle of Anghiari took place on ...
(Tuscany), where he was recently made an Honorary Citizen.
Further afield, he has conducted the
City Chamber Orchestra (Hong Kong) and the
Dunedin Symphony Orchestra
Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Dunedin, New Zealand. It hosts an annual subscription series of concerts in the Dunedin Town Hall, performing repertoire from the Classical, Romantic and contemporary per ...
(New Zealand). He has worked with many internationally acclaimed musicians, including
Sir Thomas Allen,
Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings.
Education and early career
Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dors ...
,
Dame Felicity Lott
Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, (born 8 May 1947) is an English soprano.
Education
Lott was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. From her earliest years she was musical, having started studying piano at age 5. She also played violin and bega ...
,
Alessio Bax,
Malcolm Martineau
Malcolm Martineau, OBE (born 3 February 1960) is a Scottish pianist who is particularly noted as an accompanist.
Life
Martineau was born to the pianist Hester Dickson Martineau and Canon George Martineau in 1960. He was an only child but he had ...
,
Emma Johnson, and
Sir James and Lady Galway.
As a pianist, his performances with American violinist
Miriam Kramer at the
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...
London and
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
, New York – as well as on several recordings – have received high critical acclaim.
Discography
*''BLOCH: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 Suite Hebraique'' with Miriam Kramer
References
External links
Home , Southbank SinfoniaConductors , The Parliament Choir(Southbank Sinfonia at the Anghiari Festival in Tuscany: Simon Over, Music Director
{{DEFAULTSORT:Over, Simon
1964 births
Living people
British male conductors (music)
British classical pianists
Male classical pianists
Musicians from Coventry
Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
21st-century British conductors (music)
21st-century classical pianists
21st-century British male musicians