Simon Capet (pronounced Ka-pay) knew his place in the orchestra pit before he even knew where his seat was in the kindergarten classroom. As part of three generations of professional classical musicians, he was born with music in his blood.

Growing up in London gave Simon the opportunities to break new ground in classical music from an early age. Conducting already at 14, Simon directed the Wakefield Youth Symphony Orchestra in a concert of Dvorak’s New World Symphony. At 15 he began his studies at the Royal College of Music, and then won an exhibition scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music. After leaving the Royal Academy in 1990, Simon held posts as Music Director for the Pegasus Ensemble, Battersea Arts Centre Opera, The Middlesex Philharmonic, and the Harrow Symphony.

Flash forward to today, Simon is an innovative and award winning conductor, having received the Brian McMaster Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera and the Rio Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award for his work with as the Music Director for the Modern Baroque Opera in Vancouver, Canada, where he also served at the Music Coordinator and Assistant Conductor for the Vancouver Opera, starting in 1995.

After making his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops in February of 2009, Simon returned to the West Coast of Canada where he continues to serve as the Music Director for the Victoria Philharmonic Choir. He shook up the choral world in 2007 with a modern rendition and unusual production of Dvorak’s The Spectre’s Bride. With a creative team that included writer Mollie Kaye, the design skills of Disney and Pixar Studios Michel Gagne, and Emmy award winning puppeteer Tim Gosley, Simon re-wrote the outdated and avuncular English libretto and made the piece literally come to life using shadow puppet dramatization; reviving this neglected masterpiece and introducing it to a new generation of concert goers.

As if mounting a production of this magnitude was not enough, the following summer, Simon launched the Euphonia Music Festival, a festival that celebrates humanity through music and in the process remove the barriers between musical genres. The imaginative programming and superior quality of the performances received enthusiastic audience response and established Simon as a trailblazer, a visionary, and one of the brightest new faces of classical music by critics everywhere.

Currently, Simon travels between Canada, the US, and Europe, guest conducting with orchestras and developing his upcoming production of the Euphonia Music Festival for the US and European markets.

In Praise...
Of Simon Capet...

“extremely stylish, deft and illuminating” Musical Opinion, UK

“…faultlessly conducted...” London News, UK

“Simon Capet, played the harpsichord with buoyant panache, and conducted with a well-rehearsed feel for phrasing, contrast and overall design.” Opera Magazine, UK

“...elevated to true art” The Times Colonist

of The Euphonia Music Festival...

“A spectacular new venture... Simon Capet directed the whole flawlessly” Deryk Barker ,Music in Victoria

“Capet pumped every last drop of energy out of his musicians – lending just the right balance and oomph to a fantastic program.” Sarah Petrescu ,Times Colonist

“Simon Capet is to be commended for having enriched our community with what should become a world-renown summer music festival...an extraordinary demonstration of excellence. The unusually exuberant response of the audiences was well deserved. I was truly thrilled to have been there and I cannot restrain myself from sharing my enthusiasm.” Gary Karr

“Euphonia shows a rare intelligence and imagination. I have never heard the first symphony of Brahms played with such clarity and commitment. The orchestral playing was simply stunning. I have witnessed something here of the quality that I might encounter in major musical cities like London, Berlin or Paris. Simon Capet is a remarkable artist.” Gavin Bryars

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