Born in Paris in 1986, Grégoire Simon lives between Berlin and Paris and works as a performer (viola and violin) and composer. After studying violin at the Conservatoire National de Paris (CNSMDP) and viola at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, he was chosen in 2012 by Pierre Boulez to take the solo viola position in the prestigious Ensemble Intercontemporain - Paris.
During four seasons with this ensemble, he performed numerous concerts throughout the world, notably as a soloist with Gérard Grisey's Prologue and Hugues Dufour's viola concerto Les Chardons d'après Van Gogh at the Paris Philharmonie / Cité de la Musique.
In the same time he developed an activity as a composer and electronic music producer. His Prédèle for viola and electronics and his multimedia performance Infrarouge were premiered in 2016 and 2017 at the Wien Modern festival.
Half of the electronic duo Yes Soeur! Grégoire Simon has been composing and producing for many years original music for visual installations and contemporary dance shows, performed among others at the Opéra National de Lyon, the Ballet National de Marseille, the Festival d’Automne, the Palais de Chaillot in Paris and the Tanzhaus in Düsseldorf.
With his hybrid Berlin based project SUGAR, Grégoire Simon build bridges between chamber music and pop music with originals creation presented at the Wien Modern Festival or at the Berlin Rotersalon der Volksbühne.
Since 2020 Grégoire Simon obtained various composition commissions: IRIJORI for viola and electronics for Odile Auboin and the Ensemble Flashback (Perpignan), IOGI-JOGI for string trio and clarinet for the Zafraan Ensemble (Berlin), an orchestral Suite around the themes of trance and swarm intelligence for the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra (Berlin), as well as performing his first solo Set for Viola, Cymbals and electronics.
Constantly searching and adding new pieces to his viola repertoire, Grégoire Simon also treasures sharing his experience as a performer and has given classes and workshops for the Lucerne Festival Académie, the Paris Conservatory’s orchestra, the Universität der Künste Berlin and the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva.
SELECTED PAST SHOWS
2024
9.1 Immersives Konzert @ Khroma Berlin with Sonar Quartet - Berlin (viola)
11.1 Konzert @ Kühlhaus - Berlin with Sonar Quartet - Berlin
24.1 / 26.1 / 21.4 “Desertshore” with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop & Annika (composition, arrangements & violin)
@ Centre Pompidou - Paris / Lieu Unique - Nantes / Donau Festival - Krems
26.1 “Desertshore” with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop & Annika @ Lieu Unique - Nantes
3 & 4.2 “Sternenstaub” @ Humboldtforum - Berlin (viola)
1,5 & 9.2 “Written on Skin” @ Deutsche Oper - Berlin (viola)
12.2 “Die Monosau” @ Volksbühne - Berlin (arrangements & violin)
23.2 „Amphiphilie“ with Trickster Orchestra - Ludwigshafen (viola)
20.10 “House of Diaspora” - music composition for Nitsan Margaliot & Tamar Grosz
11 & 12.11 "GRIT (for what it´s worth)” - music composition (Valmon) for Milla´s Koistinen Solo Performance /
Moving in November Festival - Stoa , Finnland
2023
29.3: Duo with Isabelle Klemt / DONAU115 - Berlin
4.3: “Sous Influence” - participative performance by Shonen - hybrid electro set (Yes Soeur!) / DansFabrik Festival - Brest
2,3 & 4.3: “Magenta Haze” - dance piece by Milla Koistinen - music production (with Paul Valikoski) / Radial System - Berlin
17.2 “Die Monosau” - theater piece nach einem Episodenroman on the Rocks by Jonathan Meese - music arrangements and violin / premiered at Volksbühne - Berlin more shows on 19 & 25.2, 5.3, 6.4…
24.5 & 5.6: “Gruppen Training” - ACUD Berlin - viola
16.7: “Magenta Haze” - Centale Fies / Dro (It) - music production (with Paul Valikoski)
26 & 27.8: DARA strings festival / Berlin - live performances
2,5,16 & 17.11 “Desertshore” - with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop & Anika - arrangements, composition (with Paul Valikoski) & violin Silent Green Berlin - Münchener Kamerspiel - Pact Zollverein Essen - Kampnagel Hamburg
2022
25 & 26.11: “Magenta Haze” by Milla Koistinen - music production (with Paul Valikoski) / Feminist Future Festival - Szene Salzburg
27,28 & 29.10: “Magenta Haze” by Milla Koistinen - music production (with Paul Valikoski) / premiered at Tanssintalo - Helsinki
8.10: duo concert with Jared Redmond / musicspacegf - Seoul
3.10: concert with Jared Redmond, Hong You and Richard Dudas - kkum music series / Vurt - Seoul
18 & 25.9: “Hihildegard” for three voices, part of “Tanz der Tanz” by Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop / Sammlung Hoffmann - Berlin
30.6: “Reflection Room” live show and sound installation (SUGAR) with Rasmus Bell / studio dB - Berlin
7,9 & 10.6 “Time to say goodbye” - music theater by Björnsonn/Marx - performance (viola. keys, voice) / Theater im Delphi - Berlin
2 & 3.6: “Maple Sigh” live for “Untitled” - dance piece by Lois Alexander / ACROSS festival - Galerie Wedding - Berlin
29.5: “SUGAR plays Slow” feat. Yannick Rafalimanan - album release concert (SUGAR) / Art Loft - Berlin
1 & 2.5: “Time to say goodbye” - music theater by Björnsonn/Marx - performance / premiered at Lunalia festival - Mechelen
1,2 & 3.4: “Reflection Room” live music and sound installation (SUGAR) with Rasmus Bell / studio dB - Berlin
28.1: “This gentle moment” music for Nitsan Margaliot´s dance movie / premiered at English Theater - Berlin