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

Raised in a Jewish household, he grew up on the North Shore of Sydney^[3] and attended Beaumont Road Public School in West Killara^[4] and St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney where the headmaster discouraged him from taking part in sports lest he damage his hands.^[5]

His teachers were Neta Maughan in Australia, Noretta Conci in England and Peter Serkin in USA.

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^{[citation needed]}.

Tedeschi signed with Sony Music Australia in 2000.^[6] His debut CD, Simon Tedeschi, was nominated for at the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 for Best Classical Album.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9] In that year, a follow-up album, Gershwin Take 2, by Tedeschi with James Morrison and Sarah McKenzie was issued.^[10] It received two ARIA Award nominations in 2014 for Virginia Read's work as engineer and producer.^[11]

He released a recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for ABC/Universal^[12] and performed Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto no. 4 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.^[13]

Media edit

He appeared regularly on the TV show Spicks and Specks on ABC TV,^[14] and he participated in the Oscar-winning movie Shine, where he played the hands of David Helfgott.^[15][16]

Writing edit

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.^[17] It was shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry.^[18] In May 2022, Tedeschi was announced as the winner of the Australian Book Review's Calibre Prize for his essay "This woman my grandmother".^[19] Fugitive was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection at the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards.^[20]

Work for children edit

He played the role of Mozart in Sydney Opera House's Babies Proms,^[21] and performed a show based on his childhood, Simon Tedeschi: Pianist and Prankster at the Monkey Baa Theatre Company.^[22]

Tedeschi currently lives in Sydney with his wife, painter Loribelle Spirovski.^[17]

Albums edit

Tedeschi was awarded the ABC Young Performer of the Year in 1998,^[23] performing the Ginastera Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jun Markl. He was also the winner of the top prize in the keyboard section of the Royal Overseas League Music Competition in London (2002).^[24]

In January 2001 Tedeschi was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal by the then Prime Minister of Australia John Howard with a citation, "For service as a Young Australian of the Year Finalist."^[25]

ARIA Music Awards edit

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.

• Official website
• "Simon Tedeschi: hearing a different beat" by Sharon Verghis, The Australian, 3 July 2010
• "Piano star Simon Tedeschi shares the keys to his success in school holiday show" by Chris Hook, The Daily Telegraph, 20 September 2014
• Simon Tedeschi at IMDb
• Simon Tedeschi plays on YouTube his transcription of Danny Elfman's theme for The Simpsons