Simon Ho

Simon Ho (* 1963 in Bern , real name Simon Hostettler ) is a Swiss composer and musician.

Career

Simon Ho studied with Pierre Boulez , among others . Hostettler is at home in different styles, he has written children's operas, compositions for avant-garde jazz bands (e.g. Another Commission with texts by Meret Oppenheim), arrangements for classical formations ( e.g. for I Salonisti , the string formation from the film Titanic ) ; in New York he founded the Duo Sounds with the avant-garde singer Shelley Hirsch . Hostettler has written for Georgette Dee , toured Mexico with a minimal cast, he is a guest composer at the Staatstheater Stuttgart, won the composition competition of the city of Bern in 1992 and the New York grant from the city of Bern in 2000. Hostettler has also set various literature to music, for example on the audio CD Behind your shoulder, the world goes under with texts by T. C. Boyle .

Before he began his career as a solo musician, he was touring with various Swiss formations, such as the pan style Chammer Sexdeet and Timmermahn . In 2002 he released his first work under his own name, published on phonograms: His first CD Before Sleep was a collection of songs and pieces, recorded over a few years by various musicians in various formations, from string quartet to rock band. It was also involved Henk Hofstede , the singer of the Dutch Nits . First, Ho performed together with the Nits at the “Night of Love” at Expo 02, then Ho and Nits went on a club tour in Switzerland.

A little later, Hostettler founded his own band with Andi Hug and Monic Mathys, the rhythm group from Patent Ochsner , two singers, Irish Shirley Grimes and Dutch Vera van der Poel , and guitarist Oli Hartung.

This formation recorded the studio album If in 2005 , with guest contributions from Henk Hofstede and the singers of the Finnish formation Värttinä . In 2006 Normal Sunday was released , a live album with songs by Simon, Värttinä and the Nits, recorded by a 14-man formation with current and former members of the Nits and Värttinä. The same troupe went to the famous Crossing Borders festival in The Hague, Holland , at the end of 2005 .

Since then, Hostettler has performed with his compositions in metropolises like New York and cities like Stuttgart . A tour also took him to Argentina.

In September 2010 Simon Ho performed again with the Ho Orchestra in Switzerland. The Spoon River Project is based on the "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters. In this classic of American literature, the dead speak up; they speak from the grave about their life, their love, their sins.

Web links

• Simon Ho's website