Simon, Stephen (Anthony)
Simon, Stephen (Anthony)
Simon, Stephen (Anthony), American conductor, composer, and arranger; b. N.Y., May 3, 1937. He studied at the Yale Univ. School of Music (B.M. in piano) and pursued choral studies with Hugh Ross and Julius Herford. From 1963 to 1978 he was music director of the Orch. Soc. of Westchester/County Sym. Orch., and also of the Handel Soc. of N.Y. from 1970 to 1974 and of the Handel Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., from 1976 to 1986. In 1986 he became music director of the Washington (D.C.) Chamber Sym. He also was a frequent guest conductor of the Halle Handel Festival in Germany. Simon has become especially well known for his pioneering new programming for young people via works for orch. and narrator, including his own Casey at the Bat and The Tortoise and the Hare, which he co-authored with his wife Bonnie. They founded Magic Maestro Recordings in 2000 with their young people’s series Stories in Music.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire