Simon Tedeschi

Simon (Alexander Meir^[a]) Tedeschi was born in 1981^[1] in Gosford to Mark Tedeschi QC, Senior Crown Prosecutor for New South Wales,^[2] and doctor Vivienne Tedeschi, the daughter of a Polish Holocaust survivor, Lucy Gershwin.^[3]

Raised in a Jewish household, he grew up on the North Shore of Sydney^{[4][citation needed]} and attended Beaumont Road Public School in West Killara^[5] and St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney, where the headmaster discouraged him from taking part in sports lest he damage his hands.^[6]

His teachers were Neta Maughan in Australia, Noretta Conci in England, and Peter Serkin in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[7]

Tedeschi signed with Sony Music Australia in 2000.^[8] His debut CD, Simon Tedeschi, was nominated for at the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 for Best Classical Album.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] In that year, a follow-up album, Gershwin Take 2, by Tedeschi with James Morrison and Sarah McKenzie was issued.^[12] It received two ARIA Award nominations in 2014 for Virginia Read's work as engineer and producer.^[13]

He released a recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for ABC/Universal^[14] and performed Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto no. 4 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.^[15]

He appeared regularly on the TV show Spicks and Specks on ABC TV,^[16] and he participated in the Oscar-winning movie Shine, where he played the hands of David Helfgott.^[17][18]

In 2022, Tedeschi published his first book entitled Fugitive, an unclassifiable work encompassing prose poetry, philosophy, memoir, meditation, aphorism and essay; the title is a reference to Prokofiev's collection of piano miniatures, Visions fugitives.^[19] It was shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry.^[20] In May 2022, Tedeschi was announced as the winner of the Australian Book Review's Calibre Prize for his essay "This woman my grandmother".^[21] Fugitive was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection at the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards.^[22]

He played the role of Mozart in Sydney Opera House's Babies Proms,^[23] and performed a show based on his childhood, Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster at the Monkey Baa Theatre Company.^[24]

Tedeschi was awarded the ABC Young Performer of the Year in 1998,^[25] performing the Ginastera Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jun Märkl.^{[citation needed]}

He was the winner of the top prize in the keyboard section of the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition in London (2002).^[26]

In January 2001 Tedeschi was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal with a citation, "For service as a Young Australian of the Year Finalist."^[27]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.