Paul Simmonds

British Harpsichord Society
www.harpsichord.org.uk



Paul Simmonds, born in London in 1949, was brought up in South Africa where he completed his initial musical studies at the Witwatersrand University with organ as principal instrument. The award of a scholarship enabled him to concentrate on the harpsichord at the Freiburg Musikhochschule under Stanislav Heller after which he became a student of Colin Tilney in London. Regular participation in master classes by Gustav Leonhardt & Kenneth Gilbert provided additional musical impetuses.

As a soloist and continuo player he has performed throughout Europe and beyond. His repertoire includes pieces specially written for him. He is harpsichordist with Trio Basiliensis (CD and radio recordings) and is one of few early keyboard players to give regular public concerts on the clavichord. Recent appearances include recitals in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on clavichords and harpsichords from the Russell Collection, the Brighton Festival, in Bad Krozingen (Neumeyer Collection), Leipzig and the Festival of Flanders, Bruges. His first CD devoted completely to the clavichord was released in 1995 on the Ars Musici label and has received wide critical approval. A second release, devoted entirely to the much neglected works of Ernst Wilhelm Wolf, was awarded the prestigious 'Deutscher Schallplatten Preis'

Paul Simmonds has had over 30 years teaching experience. He has taught the harpsichord at the Musikhochschule of Karlsruhe (Germany) and Biel (Switzerland) where he has also officiated as external examiner for harpsichord diploma examinations. He has been a guest lecturer for clavichord at Trinity College of Music, London. While living in Switzerland he taught harpsichord at the music schools of Rheinfelden and Burgdorf. He has given many workshops and masterclasses for harpsichord and clavichord, both in the UK and in the USA. In addition to his local teaching (Brighton) he travels once a month to Switzerland where he co-directs a monthly course for harpsichord, clavichord and performance practice.

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