SIMON MAURER -- Violin/Viola

SIMON MAURER, violin/viola, grew up in Switzerland in a family of six children, all of whom became professional musicians. He studied music at the Conservatory in Biel, and continued his violin studies in the U.S. with Geoffrey Michaels at Swarthmore College and Joyce Robbins at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is Assistant Concertmaster of the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, performs with Valley Vivaldi, SATORI, and several other chamber ensembles, and won critical acclaim as a featured soloist with the St. Jean Orchestra of Geneva, Switzerland and with the Shenyang Symphony Orchestra in China. A founding member of the Gabriel Chamber Ensemble, he has performed with that ensemble throughout North Eastern and Central Pennsylvania for 29 years. Mr. Maurer also ventures into the musical worlds of jazz and free style improvisation. He has been a featured soloist in Philadelphia area jazz clubs and has performed at “Jazzfest” in Schuylkill County, and recorded numerous projects with folk singers and rock groups.