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About Carlos Simon
"Carlos Simon is a young composer on the rise, with an ear for social justice."
Carlos Simon is a GRAMMY-nominated composer, curator and activist. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, his compositions range from concert music for large and small ensembles to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. Simon is the Composer-in-Residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Latest Album
The Best Cuisine
The Best Cuisine: Music of Carlos Simon, recorded by Washington DC’s Chiarina Chamber Players, highlights the power of Carlos Simon’s storytelling through his chamber music. Centered around The Best Cuisine, a work commissioned by Chiarina, the album features music for combinations of strings, piano, and baritone. Released by Azica Records in August 2025.
See album details
Works
“A modern major composer: an artist whose windows are thrown wide open to the world, and whose musical scope of late lands like a grand panorama of American life.”
Schedule
March 29, 2026
Brussels Philharmonic
Florence Price Ethiopia's Shadow in America (1929–1932)
Carlos Simon Songs of Separation: I. The Garden II. Burning Hell IV. We Are All the Same (2023)
Leonard Bernstein West Side Story: Symphonic Dances (1957)
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Jessie Montgomery Cello Concerto, for Abel Selaocoe (2025) (Belgian premiere)
Jessie Montgomery Coincident Dances (2017)