Simon Michal

Purchase Joy at the Cathedral Tickets

Simon Michal

Violin

Violinist Simon Michal was appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in February of 2016 by the Symphony’s Music Director Riccardo Muti. Simon has received numerous awards from competitions including the Grand prize at both the Kocian International Violin Competition and the International Radio Competition Concertino Praga, and the 2014 Juilliard Concerto Competition. Simon made his New York solo debut with the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall under the baton of Fabio Luisi, earning high praise from The Strad Magazine for his “silvery tone and impeccable taste”.

Simon has appeared at many concerts and festivals throughout Europe and Northern America, including the Verbier Festival, Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Master Class Series, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Stars of Tomorrow, and Juilliard Chamber Fest. During this time he has collaborated with the members of the Cleveland and Emerson Quartets and many conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Manfred Honeck, Zubin Mehta, and Charles Dutiot. In 2014 Mr. Michal was selected as a member of the first New York Philharmonic Global Academy.

Native of Bezdekov nad Metuji, Czech Republic, Simon took his first violin lessons with his father Ladislav Michal at the age of four. At 14 years old, he was admitted to the Prague Conservatoire where he studied with Jaroslav Foltyn. Between 2007 and 2009 Simon spent three summers studying with Charles Avsharian at the Meadowmount School of Music in New York. In 2015 Simon earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School where he studied with the former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, Glenn Dicterow, and Sylvia Rosenberg. In addition, he has taken masterclasses with Boris Kuschnir, Julian Rachlin, Gil Shaham, Martin Chalifour, Robert Chen, and Jorja Fleezanis. In the fall of 2015, Simon started his studies toward a Master of Music degree with Glenn Dicterow and Lisa Kim at the Manhattan School of Music but left the school after just one semester to join the CSO as the youngest violinist ever.