Jan Simon

Jan Simon began playing the piano under the guidance of his father, composer, conductor, and pianist Ladislav Simon. After studying at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts with  Valentina Kameníková and Ivan Moravec, he completed his studies in Switzerland with Homero Francesch and at the Lübeck University of Music with James Tocco. He was appointed as a pedagogue at this school from 1993 till 1998. He has won various prizes in international music competitions, including the Prague Spring Competition, and his greatest success came in 1991 when he won the bronze medal at the Queen Elizabeth Piano Competition in Brussels.

Jan Simon has performed with renowned orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra London, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Malmö Symphony, Beethovenhalle Bonn Orchestra, PKF –  Prague Philharmonia,  Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, and many others. He has worked with various famous conductors such as Jiří Bělohlávek, David Robertson, Vladimír Fedosyejev, Marc Soustrot, Jakub Hrůša, Vasily Sinaisky, Tadeusz Strugala, and Libor Pešek. During his concert career, he has performed on 4 continents in concert halls such as Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, the Munich Gasteig, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Salzburg Festspielhaus, and many others. As a chamber music partner, he worked primarily with cellist Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt and with violinist Josef Suk, the Artemis Quartet, Panocha, and the Pražák Quartet.

Jan Simon has recorded more than 20 albums under different labels such as Supraphon, BMG Ariola, Radioservis, and Clarton. Music critics praise his recordings of piano concertos by Fryderyk Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven with Jiří Bělohlávek and the PKF – Prague Philharmonia. For his recording of Erwin Schulhoff's Piano Concertos, he received the “Cannes Classical Award 95” at the MIDEM in France.

During his fourteen years as director of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, he has created the entire orchestra's dramaturgy.

Since autumn 2018, he has been the artistic director of the Academy of Classical Music and the director of the International Music Festival “Dvořákova Praha”, where, in addition to being responsible for the dramaturgy and organization of the entire festival, he is also involved in educational projects for young musicians.

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