Conductor cue: Simon Crawford-Phillips joins Percius

4 September 2019

Simon Crawford-Phillips © Nikolaj Lund

In a notable year for Simon Crawford-Phillips, Percius is delighted to welcome him to its roster of conductors and directors. Simon joins Percius as he launches a new concerto album, Fanny and Felix, with Malin Broman and award-winning Swedish string orchestra Musica Vitae on 6 September, and as he celebrates the start of his third season as Artistic Adviser and Chief Conductor of Västerås Sinfonietta with a continuation of his Beethoven Symphony cycle and Berlioz (with soloist Camilla Tilling) on 12 September.

Västerås SinfoniettaSeptember also sees Simon  performing Chausson with Daniel Hope, Li-Wei Qin and the Danish String Quartet for Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, joining Lawrence Power at Lawrence's West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival, closely followed by Simon conducting Strauss Metamorphosen and Shostakovich in Stockholm’s Nuclear Reactor R1! A wonderful snapshot of Simon’s typical work and outlook.

“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Simon, finding synergy with his broad artistic overview and adventurous programming and projects. This season sees him make notable debuts including a European tour with Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Australian National Academy of Music, and with Sinfonia Varsovia for Warsaw's LutosÅ‚awski Chain Festival: this alongside significant album releases for Deutsche Grammophon, dB Productions and BIS, performances with his own ensembles, esteemed collaborators, and the curation of his three festivals. Watch this space for more news to come… it’s going to be a wonderful whirlwind!” Libby Percival

Change Music FestivalSimon is a multi-festival director, renowned pianist, creative programmer with a passion for championing contemporary repertoire, and a chamber musician who regularly collaborates with artists such as Daniel Hope and Lawrence Power in repertoire from Haydn and Schumann to Adès, Byström, Dean and Reich.

Recent conducting engagements have included the Swedish Radio Symphony, Aalborg Symphony, Polish Chamber, Nash Ensemble and English Chamber orchestras as well as assisting Daniel Harding, Alain Altinoglu and Stanislav Kochanovsky annually at the Verbier Festival.

Notable concerto debuts include the NHK Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov, and more recently the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra directing from the keyboard. Simon is the Artistic Director of the Change Music Festival in Norra Halland, Västerås Music Festival, and Co-Artistic Director of the Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival.

For more information and to watch Simon in action, please visit his page here and explore his website: you can also follow him on Twitter. If you’d like to book Simon please call Libby Percival.

Fanny and Felix