ABOUT
ME
„...au hautbois, l`agilité, la dentelle musicale de Bettina Simon.“
ResMusica/ Les Grands Concerts de Lyon
„...Bettina Simon, excellente musicienne pleine de talent...“
Le Temps/ Festival Bach de Lausanne
Born in Hungary, soprano, baroque oboe and recorder player Bettina Simon has quickly established herself as one of the most successful and versatile artists of her generation.
During her musical career, she has collaborated with some of the most established baroque orchestras of the international stage including the Freiburger Barockorchester, La Cetra Barockorchester, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Ensemble Matheus, {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna!, Wroclav Baroque Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra a.o. Since 2014, she has been the solo oboist of Capella Savaria, the oldest existing hungarian baroque orchestra and has recorded numerous CDs for Hungaroton with the ensemble. Since 2018, she holds the same position at the swiss ensemble Accademia Barocca Lucernensis.
In 2018, based in Vienna, together with violinist Dimitris Karakantas she founded the baroque orchestra „nuovo barocco“. Just a few seasons later, the young ensemble has already performed at the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Brucknerhaus Linz, Les Grands Concerts de Lyon, Festival Bach de Lausanne, Bayreuth Baroque and Festival de Froville Musique Sacrée et Baroque. Bettina Simon regularly performs as a soloist internationally with her ensemble.
Bettina Simon made her singing debut at the Tonhalle Zürich alongside of conductor and recorder player Maurice Steger. She sang the role of Roberto in the opera "Griselda" by A. Vivaldi in Milano, Italy and debuted as Bersabea in N. Porpora's oratorio "David e Bersabea" at the Vienna Konzerthaus. At the Herrenchiemsee Festival, the Konzerthaus Blaibach and the Parktheater Augsburg she took on the roles of “Papagena” and “Erste Dame” in W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute. Since the spring of 2023 Bettina Simon regularly collaborates as a soloist with "Orchester 1756" at the Karlskirche of Vienna, performing programs that combine singing as well as playing the baroque oboe and the recorder.
Since 2022 Bettina Simon teaches baroque oboe as a member of the faculty at the Cologne University of Music (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln).
Her solo CD recordings include the Concerto for Oboe, Violin and Orchestra in D Minor BWV1060R by J. S. Bach (Hungaroton, 2019) and the Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in D Minor by Alessandro Marcello (2020).
While completing her soloist and pedagogical studies on the recorder at the Vienna University for Music and Performing Arts, Bettina Simon discovered her passion for the baroque oboe. Further studies brought her to the class of Prof. Andreas Helm at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna, where she completed her bachelor degree with distinction. She went on to study with Prof. Katharina Arfken in the masters program of the highly esteemed Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and graduated at the top of her class with highest honours. Later on, she has studied as a postgraduate student at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg with Prof. Alfredo Bernardini. Additionally, Bettina Simon completed her baroque singing studies with Prof. Roberta Invernizzi at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna where she has been the recipient of the merit scholarship.
Since 2023 Bettina Simon conducts artistic research as a doctorate student at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece.