Simon Buck began studying the piano at the age of three with Lavinia
Ferguson and the Bristol Suzuki Group. From 2003 to 2005 he also
studied with Sue Bird, during which time he was twice runner-up in the
Avon Rotary Clubs’ Young Musician Awards. Through the Suzuki
Groups of Great Britain, Simon had the opportunity to participate in two
master classes given by the distinguished pianist Bernard d’Ascoli, and
appear as soloist at a number of prestigious concert venues including the
Royal Festival Hall, London.
In October 2004 Simon was awarded the Dora Gilson Scholarship to
study at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied for four
years with Carole Presland. Whilst at the college Simon played in master
classes with Max Cooke, Håvard Gimse, Aleksander Madžar, Andrew
Zolinsky and Steven Osborne, and also received individual tuition from
Philippe Cassard, Jin Ju, Nelson Goerner, Stephen Hough and Alexander
Melnikov.
Simon has given solo and ensemble recitals at various venues around
Great Britain. He was awarded the RNCM’s Marjorie Clementi Memorial
award for solo performance in 2007 and in 2008 was highly commended
in both the RNCM’s prestigious Piano Recital Prize and the
Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition. He has appeared as soloist
four times in concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Grieg and in February
2008 received the highest category in the RNCM’s Concerto Competition,
an award which led to a performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto
No.3 with the RNCM Concert Orchestra in January 2009. In his final
year at the RNCM he was also awarded the Peter Frankl Prize for Piano
and, in conjunction with Music at Duffield, the Bemrose Bursary for
chamber music.
In December 2008 Simon was offered the Constance Bastard Scholarship
and the Christopher Rae Award to study at the Royal Academy of Music,
London, where he is now in his first postgraduate year under the tuition
of Rustem Hayroudinoff. Simon’s studies in London are generously supported
by the Ian Fleming Charitable Trust and The Countess of Munster Musical Trust.