Simon choice

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Simon Wahl in Vienna 2017

Simon choice (* 25. July 1989 in Bonn ) is a German fingerstyle - guitarist and composer , and co-organizer of the Vienna fingerstyle festivals .

Artistic career

Simon Wahl had his first contact with music as a 5-year-old with recorder lessons and at the age of 7 in the Oberkassel wind group , where he also received trombone lessons. At the age of 13 he got his first guitar lessons at the Bonn Music School , first 3 years classical guitar , then 3 more years electric guitar with Helli Gattung.

He made his first public appearance with one of his student rock bands as an electric guitarist at the age of 15 and played in various bands for three years until 2008. At the age of 17 he made his first solo appearance with a western guitar , where he presented his first fingerstyle compositions . The first major appearances followed on the Münsterplatz in Bonn, in the Bürgerhaus Stollwerck Cologne and in the SWR Studio Trier as well as joint concerts with Alex Kabasser and Marcel Cestari.

After completing his Abitur in 2009 at the Ernst-Kalkuhl-Gymnasium Bonn, he did community service in a speech therapy kindergarten and then studied classical guitar with Sonja Prunnbauer at the Freiburg University of Music for a year . As part of the Erasmus program , he came to Linz in 2011 , where he completed an educational and artistic concert guitar study with Michael Langer at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz , which he graduated with honors in 2015 .

Artistically, Simon Wahl was shaped over the years by various musicians in different genres . So count u. a. the guitarists Andy McKee , Tommy Emmanuel , John Frusciante and Andy Timmons but also other instrumentalists such as Keith Jarrett , the Youngblood Brass Band or Johann Sebastian Bach are among his influences. Since 2015 he has lived in Vienna .

Playing style and concerts

Over time, Simon Wahl developed his own style in the form of a crossover of rock , pop , classical and flamenco . With his Eminem - Medley he was in 2013 one of the first guitarists to hip-hop played on the acoustic guitar. He invented a unique percussive playing technique by loosening the low E string and placing it next to the guitar neck to produce a rasping marching snare drum sound .

He plays his live concerts mainly in fingerstyle, which, with the inclusion of percussive effects on the guitar, creates the impression of several players or a complete band and mostly combines bass slapping , chord and melody playing as well as fingerpicking at the same time.

He usually performs with a Maton Custom Shop EBG808c guitar from the Australian company Maton, which was specially built for him according to his wishes. To amplify the guitar, he prefers the pre-amp AER Pocket Tool Dual Mix. Wahl played over 500 concerts in 9 countries ( Austria , Germany , Switzerland , the Netherlands , France , Italy , England , the Czech Republic and Slovakia ) between 2011 and 2017 alone . In addition to Maton guitars, he also uses a Martin 00-17 guitar from 1949 for studio recordings .

His concerts are characterized by a high degree of interaction with the audience and he provides entertaining entertainment with his humorous interludes.

Simon Wahl was on stage with many well-known artists such as Ulli Bögershausen , Don Ross , Thomas Leeb , Jon Gomm, Adam Rafferty, Markus Schlesinger , Café del Mundo , Jacques Stotzem , Alex Kabassser, Casper Esmann, Judith Beckedorf, Timo Brauwers etc. In addition to his concerts, he also appears at international festivals . In October 2019 he played at the film music concert “ Hollywood in Vienna ” a. a. with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Wiener Konzerthaus .

Others

Since 2016, Simon Wahl has been co-organizer of the Vienna Fingerstyle Festival, which was founded in 2010 by Markus Schlesinger and Wilfried Lepuschitz and has taken place annually in Vienna since then. In addition, he regularly holds workshops on fingerstyle technique in music schools, music colleges and at guitar festivals.

He also gives private lessons in Vienna and Bonn, where he teaches every style of music from simple song accompaniment to virtuoso guitar pieces , as well as various techniques and also the theoretical background such as music theory and harmony .

In 2011 he won the “Acoustic Grand Slam” music prize in Freiburg and in 2013 the “ Art against Bares ” music prize in Bonn.

Composition (selection)

The compositions by Simon Wahl are inspired by nature and express momentary emotional states, as can be seen, for example, in the pieces "Am Rhein" or "Sommerregen". Some of his pieces are even covered in Taiwan . The most important original compositions include:

  • 2010 "Hope" (Fingerstyle Ballad ) - Album : "A Language Called Music"
  • 2010 "Chanson Pour Maman" (Fingerstyle Ballad) - Album: "A Language Called Music"
  • 2010 "Am Rhein" ( imitation of the river on guitar) - album: "A Language Called Music"
  • 2011 "Take It Easy" (with a percussive click) - album: "Déjà Vu"
  • 2011 "Reflection" (Fingerpicking Song on Harp Guitar) - Album: "Déjà Vu"
  • 2013 "You Shine" (ballad on concert guitar) - album: Fernweh EP
  • 2013 "Fernweh" (Percussion Fingerstyle Song) - Album: Fernweh EP
  • 2018 "Schlaflos" (ballad with percussive playing technique) - Album: Keep On Dreaming
  • 2018 "Savanne" (Percussion Fingerstyle Song) - Album: Keep On Dreaming

Arrangements (selection)

His fingerstyle arrangement of Andy Timmons "Electric Gypsy" was released in 2016 on the renowned US label Candyrat Records. Further arrangements are:

Discography

  • 2008 "First Try" - first demo CD with 9 compositions (label: self-published)
  • 2009 "Moments" - second demo CD (label: self-published)
  • 2010 "A Language Called Music" (label: self-published)
  • 2011 "Déjà Vu" (label: self-published)
  • 2013 "Fernweh EP" (label: self-published)
  • 2016 "Meet Again" (label: self-published)
  • 2017 "Tides" Ulli Bögershausen feat. Simon Wahl (Label: Laika Records)
  • 2018 "Keep On Dreaming" (label: self-published)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Choice, Simon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German musician
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn