Klaus Simon was born in Überlingen am Bodensee and is active as a conductor, pianist, and arranger. He studied music at the University of Music in Freiburg, piano with Michael Leuschner, and also participated in masterclasses with Aloys Kontarsky (piano), and Hans Zender and Johannes Kalitzke (conducting). Simon is the founder and artistic director of the Holst Sinfonietta and the Opera Factory in Freiburg (which, until 2014, was known as the Young Opera Company). With these groups, he has busied himself for decades exploring mainly forgotten and neglected repertoire. His main focus is music after 1900.
As as pianist, Klaus Simon works mainly as an art song accompanist, and has initiated a concert series in Freiburg devoted to the 20th Century art song repertoire. He frequently appears with singers such as sopranos Britta Stallmeister and Sarah Wegener, mezzo-soprano Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, and baritones Uwe Schenker-Primus and Hans Christoph Begemann. Several CDs and broadcast recordings document his tireless commitment to music. Since 2007, Klaus Simon has also enjoyed success as an arranger, and his reworkings of Mahler, Berg, and Schoenberg have been performed worldwide.
