Simon Fryer is an artist of the utmost versatility, at home with the demands of the music of our time and those of historical performance, with the cooperation of ensemble music-making and in the solo recital spotlight.

In demand not only as a performer but also for his teaching, coaching and masterclass skills, Simon maintains a busy schedule at home and abroad.

Formerly a member of the Penderecki String Quartet - one of the Canada's most successful ensembles - he performed regularly across Canada and around the world releasing several discs including the complete cycle of Bartok's String Quartets and Launch Pad - nominated for a West Coast Music Award.

Despite the quartet's intense schedule Simon performed as soloist with the Da Capo and Elora Festival Singers and collaborated with the St. Lawrence and Silver Birch Quartets as well as the Aradia Ensemble. He premiered Casanova Suite for cello and winds by Johan De Meij in Canada under the baton of the composer and presented an array of sonata programs with piano. He will shortly release a CD of Victorian English Sonatas with pianist Leslie De'ath.

Simon's solo CD: Music of a life so far... was acclaimed as "a fascinating collection" by the Toronto Star and he appears on the Juno winning Azulao with soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian.

A former member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Simon has been on faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School and the Casalmaggiore International Festival. Continuously active as a chamber musician, orchestral player and soloist in more than thirty countries on six continents he performs on an instrument completed in 1998 by Masa Inokuchi.

His enjoyment of bringing musicians and audiences together through great music is fuelled by his Artistic Directorship of one of Canada's longest established concert series: the Women's Musical Club of Toronto's Music in the Afternoon, now in its 112th season.

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