Klaus Simon was born in Überlingen am Bodensee, Germany, and studied music, German and geography at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg. He studied piano with
Michael Leuschner at the Freiburg Musikhochschule, and later studied in master classes with
Aloys Kontarsky, for piano, and
Hans Zender und
Johannes Kalitzke for conducting. Simon founded the Holst Sinfonietta and the Young Opera Company, and is music director for both of these groups. He is especially interested in 20th-century music, and, as accompanist, he initiated and led a series of
lieder recitals featuring music by composers such as
Arnold Schoenberg,
Hans Pfitzner,
Erich Wolfgang Korngold,
Wolfgang Rihm,
Paul Hindemith,
Frank Bridge,
Gustav Holst,
Rebecca Clarke,
George Crumb and
Dominick Argento. Simon has recorded several CDs for the
Naxos label, and is slated to record the complete songs of Pfitzner and Korngold. He has also recorded works by
John Adams and, for the
cpo label, Korngold's last stage work,
Die Stumme Serenade. Simon has also edited editions of works by
Gustav Mahler and Schoenberg for Universal Edition in Vienna. These editions have been used for a number of performances and recordings. One such arrangement is of Mahler's
4th Symphony for soprano and chamber orchestra (2007). ==References==