Simon Tedeschi

Simon Tedeschi
Background information
Born (1981-05-01) 1 May 1981 (age 43)
Gosford, Australia
OccupationPianist
Websitesimontedeschi.com

Simon Tedeschi (born 1 May 1981) is an Australian classical pianist and writer.

Early life

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Tedeschi was born in Gosford to Mark Tedeschi QC, Senior Crown Prosecutor for New South Wales,[1] and doctor Vivienne Tedeschi, the daughter of a Polish Holocaust survivor, Lucy Gershwin.[2]

Raised in a Jewish household, he grew up on the North Shore of Sydney[3] and attended Beaumont Road Public School in West Killara[4] and St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney where the headmaster discouraged him from taking part in sports lest he damage his hands.[5]

His teachers were Neta Maughan in Australia, Noretta Conci in England and Peter Serkin in the United States.

When he was 9 years old, Tedeschi performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19, K.459 in the Sydney Opera House. At age 13, he played for Luciano Pavarotti.[6]

Career

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Tedeschi signed with Sony Music Australia in 2000.[7] His debut CD, Simon Tedeschi, was nominated for at the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 for Best Classical Album.[8] In 2004 he recorded Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto and Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Richard Bonynge. His album, Grieg / Tchaikovsky – Piano Concertos, peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Classical chart in October 2005.[9]

In November 2012 he released his next album, Gershwin and Me (Universal Music Group/ABC), which reached No. 4 on the ARIA Classical, No. 5 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums, No. 68 on the ARIA Top 100 Physical Albums charts in January 2013.[10] In that year, a follow-up album, Gershwin Take 2, by Tedeschi with James Morrison and Sarah McKenzie was issued.[11] It received two ARIA Award nominations in 2014 for Virginia Read's work as engineer and producer.[12]

He released a recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for ABC/Universal[13] and performed Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto no. 4 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.[14]

Media

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He appeared regularly on the TV show Spicks and Specks on ABC TV,[15] and he participated in the Oscar-winning movie Shine, where he played the hands of David Helfgott.[16][17]

Writing

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In 2022, Tedeschi published his first book entitled Fugitive, an unclassifiable work encompassing prose poetry, philosophy, memoir, meditation, aphorism and essay; the title is a reference to Prokofiev's collection of piano miniatures, Visions fugitives.[18] It was shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry.[19] In May 2022, Tedeschi was announced as the winner of the Australian Book Review's Calibre Prize for his essay "This woman my grandmother".[20] Fugitive was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection at the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards.[21]

Work for children

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He played the role of Mozart in Sydney Opera House's Babies Proms,[22] and performed a show based on his childhood, Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster at the Monkey Baa Theatre Company.[23]

Personal life

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Tedeschi currently lives in Sydney with his wife, painter Loribelle Spirovski.[18]

Discography

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Albums

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List of albums, with selected details
Title Details
Simon Tedeschi
  • Released: 2000
  • Format: CD
  • Label:
Piano Concertos: Tchaikovsky, Grieg
(with The Queensland Orchestra & Richard Bonynge)
  • Released: 2006
  • Format: CD
  • Label:
Simon Tedeschi & Ian Cooper
(with Ian Cooper)
  • Released: 2008
  • Format:
  • Label:
Gershwin & Me
  • Released: 2012
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0032)
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23, KV488
(with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra & Alexander Briger)
  • Released: 2013
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0189)
Gershwin & Me: Take Two
  • Released: 2013
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0629)
Tender Earth: Australian Music for Piano
  • Released: 2014
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 0960)
Enoch Arden
(with Alfred Tennyson, Richard Strauss & John Bell)
  • Released: 2017
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 5558)
A Winter's Tale
(with Roger Benedict)
  • Released: 2018
  • Format: CD, Digital
  • Label: ABC Classics (ABC 481 6751)

Awards

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Tedeschi was awarded the ABC Young Performer of the Year in 1998,[24] performing the Ginastera Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jun Märkl. He was also the winner of the top prize in the keyboard section of the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition in London (2002).[25]

In January 2001 Tedeschi was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal by the then Prime Minister of Australia John Howard with a citation, "For service as a Young Australian of the Year Finalist."[26]

ARIA Music Awards

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The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2000 Simon Tedeschi Best Classical Album Nominated [27]
2006 Piano Concertos: Tchaikovsky, Grieg (with The Queensland Orchestra & Richard Bonynge) Best Classical Album Nominated
2014 Virginia Read for Gershwin: Take Two Engineer of the Year Nominated
Producer of the Year Nominated
2023 Debussy – Ravel (with Roger Benedict) Best Classical Album Nominated [28]

References

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  1. ^ Sharon Verghis (2 July 2010). "Hearing a different beat". The Australian. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Two of Us : Lucy Gershwin And Simon Tedeschi". library.deakin.edu.au. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Member Profile – Simon Tedeschi", advance.org
  4. ^ "Pianist Simon Tedeschi visits his old school Beaumont Road Public School in Killara" by Danielle Nicastri, North Shore Times, 29 June 2014
  5. ^ "Old Andrean: Simon Tedeschi" Archived 14 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine by Melanie Pennington, Inspired (St Andrews' school paper), 2014, pp. 6–7
  6. ^ Law, Benjamin (8 July 2022). "Dicey Topics: Pianist Simon Tedeschi". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Simon Tedeschi [sound recording] : [Gartner/Friedman, Scarlatti, Gershwin, Mageau, Palmgren, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Bach, Agnew, Shchedrin, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Seiber, Waller, Morton]. – Version details". Trove. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  8. ^ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2000". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  9. ^ Thomas, Tara (31 October 2005). "Week Commencing ~ 31st October 2005 ~ Issue #818" (PDF). The ARIA Report (818). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  10. ^ Wallace, Ian (14 January 2013). "Week Commencing ~ 14th January 2013 ~ Issue #1194" (PDF). The ARIA Report (1194). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA): 8, 21, 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Simon Tedeschi – Gershwin: Take Two". ABC Music. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  12. ^ "2014 ARIA Awards Winners By Year". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  13. ^ Unit, Commercial Development. "Simon Tedeschi – Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition". ABC Shop. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Sydney Symphony Orchestra | Symphony for the Common Man". sydneysymphony.com. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  15. ^ ABC TV (19 February 2014), Spicks and Specks: Simon Tedeschi on Pianos, archived from the original on 11 August 2017, retrieved 23 April 2017
  16. ^ Kelly Burke, "Of genius and geekdom", The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 September 1999, Spectrum, p. 3s
  17. ^ Jane Albert, "The Face", The Weekend Australian, 31 March – 1 April 2001, Review, p. R3
  18. ^ a b Miriam Cosic (26 April 2022). "Simon Tedeschi: Key Change". Limelight. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  19. ^ "The 2023 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  20. ^ Tedeschi, Simon (May 2022). "This woman my grandmother". Australian Book Review.(subscription required)
  21. ^ "Queensland Literary Awards 2023 shortlists". Books+Publishing. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  22. ^ "Sydney Opera House Babies Proms – Meeting Mozart in Beijing". en.damai.cn. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  23. ^ "Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster » Riverside Parramatta". riversideparramatta.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  24. ^ "ABC Classic FM – Young Performers Awards returns in 2017". ABC Classic FM. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017. The competition has been an important launch-pad for many successful music careers, unearthing an extraordinary number of talents including Simon Tedeschi
  25. ^ "Royal Over-Seas League". Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  26. ^ "Award Extract – Name Tedeschi, Simon". Australian Honours Search Facility. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  27. ^ ARIA Award previous winners. "ARIA Awards – Winners by Award". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  28. ^ "Nominees Announced for 2023 ARIA Awards". Music Feeds. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
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