Simon Murphy

Simon Francis Murphy (born 26 August 1973 in Balmain, Sydney) is an international award winning, Dutch based, Australian conductor and viola player with a focus on the music of the 18th and early 19th centuries. He is a leading member of the new generation of specialist early music performers, is regularly invited to conduct at the celebrated European music festivals, and is, since 2002, the chief conductor and artistic director of The Hague's Baroque Orchestra, The New Dutch Academy (NDA). Murphy has won major music industry awards, including the Dutch Edison Award (in 2004) and Luxembourg's Supersonic Award (in 2006).His groundbreaking performance of Corelli's Concerti Grossi at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in 2003, recorded for CD by Pentatone, was chosen as one of the top 5 highlights of the festival's 30-year history.Murphy made his Amsterdam Het Concertgebouw and Brussels Le Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR / Centre for Fine Arts) conducting débuts in 2004, and his débuts at the Handel Festival, Halle, in 2008 and Bachfest Leipzig in 2010. Murphy is especially notable for his pioneering work in rediscovering and reintroducing forgotten 18th century, European, symphonic composers, particularly from and related to the Mannheim School (Mannheimer Schule).He has substantially enriched the modern symphonic, orchestral repertoire with his discoveries. Resulting from his research, Murphy has also been responsible for unveiling the previously unknown Dutch 18th century symphonic tradition, presenting this to the world through performances, radio and TV broadcasts, and the first CD recordings of this symphonic heritage.In particular, he has championed 18th-century composers Joseph Schmitt "The Dutch Haydn" and Francesco Zappa, making first CD recordings and new editions of their symphonic works.