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Seven things you didn’t know about Simon

Seven things you didn’t know about Simon

posted on November 21, 2015

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I have gotten to know a lot of you over the years via email and I have even had the good fortune to meet some of you in person. To give you a little more insight into who I am (there is more than the classical guitar) here are seven things you didn’t know about me.

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#1 I’m in a band and I play Mandolin, harmonica and steel string guitar.

I love the classical guitar, but I would say I love music in general. When I listen for pleasure the music is all over the map. A few years ago I was performing in a Festival in Australia where I saw the Punch Brothers perform. This is an amazing group that has bluegrass roots and at the helm is a bonafide genius by the name of Chris Thile. He is a mandolin player that inspired me to take up the instrument and pretty soon after I recruited some friends in New York to form a band.

I usually write the music and Caroline (the singer) writes the lyrics. Here is a sample

http://www.classicalguitarcorner.com/wp-content/uploads/CP-Sample.mp3

The band is called “Cathedral Parkway” (the street where I used to live) and the album on iTunes is “Howl at the Moon“

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#2 I am a professional photographer

One time, several years back, I performed in Oslo at a human rights conference. I didn’t know anyone so I ended hanging out with the photographers. I was quickly bitten by the photography bug and began teaching myself by learning online (which incidentally is how I became aware of the effectiveness of online teaching). I have shot at New York Fashion Week, been published in books, Weddings, festivals and had many portrait sessions including the Juilliard String Quartet. I think my favorite moment for photography was walking down Broadway in New York and seeing one of my photos used at Lincoln Center.

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#3 My first instrument was brass

My first instrument was the cornet, and I was cute as a button when I played it. I have no idea if I was actually playing the right notes back then. By the way, that grumpy guy on the right is my brother. He ended up being a musician too…

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#4 I Danced in the olympics

I will spare you the lead up to this one, but when I was a high school student in Australia I was part of a group selected to dance in the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Sydney. I am pretty sure it will be the biggest audience I will ever perform for and the only audience I will ever dance for :)

I do have a photo of this, but for the life of me I can’t find it! I guess you will just have to trust me.

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#5 Hablo Español

When I was at Yale I had a bad habit of taking on too many classes. One of these was Spanish and every morning at 8am I would spend two hours learning Spanish with a group of undergrads who where ten years younger than me and ten times as smart!

The Spanish language is a beautiful one with great poetry, films and music. It also helped me greatly when I traveled to South America to teach and perform.

Here is an interview on Buenos Aires radio.

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http://www.classicalguitarcorner.com/wp-content/uploads/Simon-Powis-Radio-Nacional.mp3

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#6 I love soccer

Simon SoccerWhat is a good sport that won’t break your nails?

Soccer!

I played all throughout university and now I am passionately involved with a Premier League Fantasy team…

and Evita is beating me with a team choses solely on hairstyles.

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#7 I am marrying for money

Just kidding, I am marrying a dancer.

I am engaged to the best Lindy Hop dancer in the world. Many of you have heard her on the podcast.

Here is Evita (Eva Maria)

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Filed Under: Classical Guitar Blog

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Immanuel

    November 26, 2015 at 3:58 am

    Hi Simon. Thanks for sharing the 7 things we didnt know about Simon. Interesting and entertaining. I saw Chris Thile play in Adelaide as well and to put it bluntly I was blown away but his mandolin playing and he had a lot of charisma. My mandolin is still gathering dust but I will dust it off in the future. Great to see the video of Evita. I don’t really know what Lindy hop is but it was great dancing regardless of what style it was in. Thanks again for sharing this you are making a habit of coming up with new and interesting things. I look forward to when your email arrives in my inbox!

    Reply
  2. Jorge

    November 26, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    Gracias por todo. Feliz dia de accion de gracias.

    Jorge

    Reply
  3. Mark Featherstone

    February 7, 2016 at 5:19 pm

    Simon, Great to get to know you a little better, and wow, you are Renaissance Man! I have been struggling to learn French all my life (one of the things you do as an anglophone Canadian). Although I can read fairly well and carry on a bit of small talk, there is absolutely no way I could be interviewed in French on any topic whatsoever. And that’s after living three years in France. And you got to this level of proficiency in Spanish with a couple of hours a day?! Really impressive.

    I only made as far as your wonderful performance of the Scarlatti piece. I could catch it was Scarlatti, but not the exact title of the work. If you could let me know, I’d appreciate it.

    And I am delighted to see Evita perform after getting to know and like her through the podcasts. At the risk of exhausting my allotment of wows, WOW!!! Just a spellbinding performance. Please pass on my congrats and appreciation.

    Reply
  4. 6Strings

    February 8, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    Simon thanks for a glimpse into your background, both past, present and future. You are a true Renaissance man :)

    Reply
  5. Ramon Tristani

    April 7, 2016 at 4:02 am

    Your Spanish is impressive! I was born in Puerto Rico. I can always appreciate this :)

    Reply
  6. Nima

    August 3, 2018 at 3:35 am

    Hey! I used to take that 2-hour 8 am Spanish class at Yale (years before you would have been there). I also learned guitar while I was in college from a guitar student at YSM. Sadly, I never either very well, so I am back here, many years later trying to give guitar another go. Your lessons are fantastic.

    Reply
  7. Raymond Field

    April 8, 2020 at 5:01 pm

    Hi Simon.
    I follow you on utube, also receive emails about classical guitar,
    I am following your repertoire, technic books which I am finding a little challenging, so nice to appreciate your many achievements and realise what a talented indevidual you,are, many thanks for giving your time to me for free, have a good life stay safe with your love ones.
    Ray Field

    Reply

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