“…an eloquent advocate” - The Sunday Times 「演奏具說服力」-《星期日泰晤士報》
“…spirited and skilful playing” The Birmingham Post 「活力四射、技藝精湛的演出」- 《伯明翰郵報》
“...with passion, total commitment and... heartfelt affection” - Gramophone 「熱情、全情投入的演奏…令人心動」- 《留聲機》
“...a wonderful pianist” - Sir Roger Norrington 「一個令人驚嘆的鋼琴家」- 指揮大師挪靈頓爵士
Simon Callaghan performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, in parallel with a highly successful career as a recording artist. A favorite performer at the internationally-renowned Husum Festival of Piano Rarities in Germany, Callaghan’s recent sell-out concert was praised by VAN Magazine as a “cleverly curated recital full of discoveries” and by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as “technically brilliant”. Callaghan has developed a wide following and appears on a regular basis in the UK’s major concert halls, and on tours to Asia, North America and Europe.
As concerto soloist, he has recently collaborated with the Ulster Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen, with conductors including Jac van Steen, Martin Yates and Martyn Brabbins. Recital partners have included Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jack Liebeck, Nicholas Daniel, Julian Bliss, Adrian Brendel, Feng Ning, Raphael Wallfisch, Ruth Rogers, Samuel West, Prunella Scales and Timothy West. BBC Young Musician of the Year Finalist Coco Tomita and Callaghan have a successful duo partnership which saw their second record released in 2024 on Orchid Classics. He is also a founding member of the London Piano Quartet, joining colleagues from the renowned Piatti Quartet to showcase the repertoire for piano quartet with a particular focus on revivifying works that have fallen into obscurity.
Simon Callaghan’s distinguished and eclectic discography includes recordings for Hyperion, Nimbus and Lyrita. He has a strong profile on BBC Radio3 and on a variety of streaming platforms, his most recent single on Apple Music with Coco Tomita surpassing 1 million streams in the first month of its release. He is a strong social media enthusiast, using it as a form of promotion for classical music in general but seeing it as a particular tool in his advocacy of the rare and unexplored.
Callaghan’s broad repertoire encompasses the standard works of the 19th and 20th centuries and increasingly concentrates on much that is little known, examples including Bernhard Scholz, Josef Rheinberger and Carl Reinecke. A cornerstone of his work is his commitment to British music, and he has begun a series on Lyrita, recording world premieres of British concertos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Callaghan has also made first recordings of the complete piano music by Rebecca Clarke, George Dyson and William Busch. He has recorded four albums for Hyperion’s celebrated The Romantic Piano Concerto series. His first disc for Hyperion, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins, formed part of his PhD at the Royal Northern College of Music and was praised by BBC Radio 3’s Andrew McGregor: “I have nothing but praise for the performances... impressive pianism”.
In 2020, Simon recorded L’histoire du Babar with actor Miriam Margolyes. The album received five stars from The Independent, reviewer Michael Church commenting that: “here, thanks to Harry Potter actor Miriam Margolyes’s artistry and Simon Callaghan’s excellent pianism, is Poulenc’s delightful musical response. And as I listened to this recording, I found the original drawings reappearing in my mind with all their detail intact – extraordinary. It lasts just 30 minutes, but my god does it resonate.”
Simon Callaghan’s reputation and experience in chamber music led to his appointment as Artistic Director at London’s celebrated Conway Hall, only the sixth incumbent since the founding of the series in 1887. He is Professor of Piano at the Royal Northern College of Music, and was elected a Steinway Artist in 2012.
西門‧卡拉漢以獨奏家及室樂音樂家的身分活躍於國際舞臺,同時也是一位極為成功的錄音藝術家。他是德國享譽國際的胡蘇姆鋼琴珍品音樂節的常客與寵兒,近期一場座無虛席的獨奏會獲得《VAN Magazine》讚譽為「精心策劃、充滿新發現的精彩獨奏會」,而《法蘭克福匯報》則稱其演出「技藝精湛卓越」。
卡拉漢擁有廣大的樂迷基礎,經常受邀於英國各大頂尖音樂廳演出,並頻繁前往亞洲、北美與歐洲巡迴。作為協奏曲獨奏家,他近年來與阿爾斯特管弦樂團、英國廣播電台威爾斯國家管弦樂團、皇家北方小交響樂團以及聖加侖交響樂團等樂團合作,指揮家包括積克‧史甸 、馬丁‧耶茨及布拉賓斯。他的室樂合作對象涵蓋薛庫、傑克‧黎貝克、尼高拉斯‧丹尼爾、祖連‧比利斯、布蘭 杜、寧峰、華費殊、露芙‧羅傑斯,以及演員森姆‧韋斯特、普魯內拉‧斯凱爾斯與提摩西威斯特等知名人士。英國廣播電台年度青年音樂家大賽決賽入圍者富田心與卡拉漢組成極具默契的二重奏組合,他們的第二張專輯已於 2024 年由 Orchid Classics 發行。此外,卡拉漢也是倫敦鋼琴四重奏團的創始成員,與知名皮亞堤四重奏的成員攜手,專注呈現鋼琴四重奏經典曲目,並特別致力於復興許多長期被忽視的珍貴作品。
西門‧卡拉漢的唱片作品風格多元且備受肯定,曾為 Hyperion、Nimbus 及 Lyrita 等知名廠牌錄製多張專輯。他在英國廣播電台第三台以及各大串流平台有極高能見度,與富田心合作推出的最新單曲,在 Apple Music 上線首月即突破一百萬次串流。他積極運用社群媒體,不僅推廣古典音樂,更特別用以倡導罕見與尚未被充分探索的曲目。
卡拉漢的曲目範圍極廣,涵蓋十九世紀與二十世紀的經典作品,近年更逐漸聚焦於鮮為人知的珍稀曲目,例如蕭茲、約瑟夫‧賴因貝格爾與爾斯滕‧藍乃克等作曲家的作品。對英國音樂的深厚委身是他藝術事業的重要核心,他已開始在 Lyrita 推出系列專輯,與英國廣播電台威爾斯國家管弦樂團合作,錄製多首英國協奏曲的世界首演。此外,他亦完成了麗貝卡‧克拉克、喬治‧戴森及威廉‧保殊等英國作曲家完整鋼琴作品的首度錄音。他為 Hyperion 著名的《浪漫鋼琴協奏曲系列》錄製了四張專輯,其中首張與英國廣播電台蘇格蘭交響樂團及指揮馬丁‧布拉賓斯合作的專輯,源自他在皇家北方音樂學院的博士研究,並獲英國廣播電台第三台名主持人安德魯‧麥格雷戈高度讚揚:「演出無可挑剔… 鋼琴技巧令人印象深刻」。
2020 年,卡拉漢與知名演員米瑞安‧瑪格萊斯合作錄製浦朗克的《Babar 的故事》,該專輯獲得《獨立報》五星評價,樂評人麥可‧查爾奇寫道:「多虧米瑞安‧瑪格萊斯出色的藝術詮釋與卡拉漢精湛的鋼琴演奏,浦朗克這首迷人至極的音樂得以完美呈現。聆聽過程中,原作插圖的所有細節竟清晰重現於腦海——實在非凡。雖然全曲僅三十分鐘,卻令人回味無窮。」
憑藉在室樂領域的傑出聲譽與豐富經驗,西門‧卡拉漢獲委任為倫敦著名康威廳音樂系列的藝術總監,自該系列於 1887 年創辦以來,他是第六位擔任此職務的音樂家。目前他擔任皇家北方音樂學院鋼琴教授,並於 2012 年獲選為施坦威藝術家。