Biography
Rest in peace, my dear friend and mentor, Alexis Weissenberg.
Please scroll through biography for concerto repertoire list.
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QUOTES
The Times, London
The most abundantly gifted of pianists
Hans Werner Henze
A pianist with my deepest respect and admiration
Herbie Hancock
You have a phenomenal touch, man!
Paul Moravec, Pulitzer prizewinner
A fantastic, amazing pianist and musician with complete mastery of the instrument
The Star, Malaysia
An extremely versatile artiste, musician, arranger and composer
Dallas Morning News
A superb artist
Denver Post
Abundantly gifted
ConcertoNet
The best individual performance of any work that I have heard this season (of Carnegie Hall debut with Joshua Bell, 2004).
Alameda Times, California
A musical superstar [with] amazing technical skills
Aspen Times
Cool, calm and collected
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BIOGRAPHY
British pianist Simon Mulligan began playing at the age of 3 and quickly established himself in the music world as a multi-faceted virtuoso. Described by The Times of London as ‘the most abundantly gifted of pianists,’ Mulligan performs and records internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in many diverse genres. Following his début with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mulligan has enjoyed performance and recording engagements with the BBC Symphony (Slatkin), English Symphony Orchestra (Boughton), Warsaw Sinfonia (Menuhin), Hong Kong Philharmonic (Atherton), Malaysian Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, and the Royal National Scottish Orchestra (Serebrier) to name a few.
Mulligan’s first compact disc was recorded under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin, leading to a seven-year collaboration and friendship, culminating in what was to be Lord Menuhin's final concert at the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf. He has since made over twenty recordings for compact disc, including the solo album “Piano” for Sony Classical featuring his own arrangements, compositions, and adaptations for piano and orchestra which has garnered international acclaim and featured in various television, radio, and internet campaigns. Other recording highlights include a disc of Beethoven sonatas for Sony Masterworks, the Martinu Sonatas and Triple Concerto, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Rozsa’s Spellbound Concerto, the Chopin Nocturnes, and the première disc “The Piano Music of Alexis Weissenberg” for Nimbus, which included spontaneous improvisations recorded in the presence of the composer. His première recording of Ned Rorem’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with José Serebrier and the Royal National Scottish Orchestra for Naxos was Gramophone magazine’s “Editor’s Choice.”
As a chamber musician, Mulligan collaborates with many notable artists. He first began touring with cellist Lynn Harrell while a student at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and has also given numerous worldwide recital tours with Joshua Bell, including performances at every major international venue as well as the Grammy Awards, for Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family, and President Barack Obama. In other fields, Simon has supported artists as varied as Branford Marsalis, Van Morrison, Sting, Dame Shirley Bassey, and Liza Minnelli. In addition he has recently begun a series of concerts with award-winning broadcaster and journalist John Suchet about the life of Beethoven.
Alongside an extensive solo repertoire and over fifty concertos, Mulligan is a devotee of contemporary music and has given first performances of works by Hans Werner Henze, James MacMillan, Tobias Picker, Alexis Weissenberg, Mark Anthony Turnage and Paul Moravec (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music). Mulligan’s passion for composition, arranging, and improvisation has led to articles in numerous music publications, including Downbeat, JazzTimes, International Pianist, and Gramophone magazines. His collaboration on several projects with Michael Kamen features him as soloist on Decca’s The New Moon in the Old Moon’s Arms with the BBC Symphony under Slatkin, and on HBO’s award-winning television series Band of Brothers. As a jazz pianist, Mulligan continues to lead several of his own groups, performing at festivals throughout the UK, Europe, Shanghai and the Americas. His jazz quartet album, “Playlist,” features all-original compositions.
A Music Scholar of St Paul's School in London, Mulligan studied under Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music and Jaques Rouvier in Paris; he also studied Beethoven at the personal invitation of Alfred Brendel. He won a scholarship to the International Piano Academy on Italy’s Lake Como and was one of the youngest recipients to be awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music for his musical achievements. He additionally counts among his mentors Charles Rosen and Murray Perahia.
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REPERTOIRE FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
Addinsell
Warsaw Concerto
Andriessen
De Volharding
Beethoven
No. 1 – C major
No. 2 – B-flat major
No. 3 – C minor
No. 4 – G major
No. 5 – E-flat major
Triple Concerto
Concerto in D major
Choral Fantasy, Op 80
Bernstein
The Age of Anxiety
Brahms
No.1 – D minor
No.2 – B-flat major
Chopin
No. 1 – E minor
No. 2 - F minor
Franck
Symphonic Variations
Gershwin
Concerto in F major
Rhapsody in Blue
Grieg
Concerto in A minor
Haydn
D major
C major
F major
Kabalevsky
Concerto No. 3, Op. 50
Lambert
Concerto
Liszt
No. 1 in E-flat
No. 2 in A major
Litolff
Scherzo
Mendelssohn
No.1
No.2
Capriccio Brillante
Messiaen
Trois Petites Liturgies
Mozart
K365 - E-flat major
K414 - A major
K453 - G major
K456 - B-flat major
K365 - E-flat major
K414 - A major
K449 – E-flat major
K453 - G major
K456 - B-flat major
K459 - F major
K466 - D minor
K467 - C major
K482 - E-flat major
K491 - C minor
K537 - D major
K595 - B-flat major
Prokofiev
No.3 - C major
Rachmaninov
No. 2 - C minor
No. 3 - D minor
No. 4 - G minor
Paganini Variations
Ravel
Concerto in G major
Concerto for the Left Hand
Rorem
Concerto No.2
Rosza
Spellbound Concerto
Rowley
Concerto in G major
Saint-Saëns
No.2 - G minor
No.3 - E-flat major
Schumann
Concerto in A minor
Shostakovich
No. 1, Op.35
No. 2, Op.102
Tchaikovsky
No. 1 - B-flat minor
No. 2 - G major (original version)
Wagner
Tristan and Isolde Fantasy, arr. Waxman
Weber
Konzertstück
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