Simon Frisch

Simon Frisch is an American composer based in New York City. The recipient of a 2020-2021 Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, he will be based in Paris at the Fondation des États-Unis to compose a song cycle for period instruments exploring the cultural legacy of Anne of Brittany, queen of France from 1491 to 1514, while also a resident researcher at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique to study the politics of music practice at her court.

Recent projects of note include The Body Untied for soloists and baroque chamber orchestra (presented in New York by Région Bretagne, lightbox gallery, and others, in collaboration with multimedia artist Rachel Libeskind), and Sandglass Vespers for chamber orchestra at Alice Tully Hall (with Joel Sachs and the New Juilliard Ensemble), with residencies and studies at the Banff Arts Centre and Wildacres. Also an advocate for community engagement and emerging creative voices in music, Simon organized a series of summer chamber music concerts in the Ille-et-Vilaine/Côtes-d’Armor regions of Brittany, programming dozens of European and world premieres by diverse young composers in collaboration with local non-profits. These concerts, acclaimed in Le Telegramme, Ouest France, and Bretagne Actuelle, promoted creative and cultural heritage projects across many disciplines, including architecture and sculpture installation. He is currently a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at the Juilliard School, where he received his MM studying with Robert Beaser.