Simon Tedeschi
Simon Tedeschi (born 1 May 1981) is an Australian classical pianist. Early life. Tedeschi was born in Gosford to Mark Tedeschi QC, Senior Crown Prosecutor for New South Wales, and photographer Vivienne Tedeschi, the daughter of a Polish Holocaust survivor, Lucy Gershwin. He grew up on the North Shore of Sydney and attended Beaumont Road Public School in West Killara and St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney where the headmaster discouraged him from taking part in sports lest he damage his hands. His teachers were Neta Maughan in Australia, Noretta Conci in England and Peter Serkin in  USA. When he was 9 years old, Tedeschi performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19, K.459 in the Sydney Opera House. At age 13, he played for Luciano Pavarotti. Career. Tedeschi signed with Sony Music Australia in 2000. His debut CD, "Simon Tedeschi", was nominated for at the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 for Best Classical Album. In 2004 he recorded Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto and Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Richard Bonynge. His album, "Grieg / Tchaikovsky – Piano Concertos", peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Classical chart in October 2005. In November 2012  he released his next album, "Gershwin and Me" (Universal Music Group/ABC), which reached No. 4 on the ARIA Classical, No. 5 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums, No. 68 on the ARIA Top 100 Physical Albums charts in January 2013. In that year, a follow up album, "Gershwin Take 2", by Tedeschi with James Morrison and Sarah McKenzie was issued. It received two ARIA Award nominations in 2014 for Virginia Read's work as He released a recording of "Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition" for ABC/Universal and performed Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto no. 4 with the Sydney Symphony  Orchestra. Media. He appeared regularly on the TV show Spicks and Specks on ABC TV, and he participated in the Oscar-winning movie "Shine", where he played the hands of David Helfgott. In 2022, he published "Fugitive", a portrait of himself and the world he lives in; the title is a reference to Prokofiev's collection of piano miniatures, "Visions fugitives". Work for children. He played the role of Mozart in Sydney Opera House's "Babies Proms", and performed a show based on his childhood, "Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster" at the Monkey Baa Theatre Company. Awards. Tedeschi was awarded  the ABC Young Performer of the Year in 1998, performing the Ginastera Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jun Markl. He was also the winner of the top prize in the keyboard section of the Royal Overseas League Music Competition in London (2002). In January 2001 Tedeschi was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal by the then Prime Minister of Australia John Howard with a citation, "For service as a Young Australian of the Year Finalist." Personal life. Tedeschi currently lives in Sydney with his wife, painter Loribelle Spirovski.