Keynote presentations about varied aspects of music around the world
Two new presentations in celebration of anniversaries in 2025-2026: ‘Dream For Us: 100 Years of Music at Dartington‘ and ‘Martha Argerich: A Portrait‘. Both these presentations have rich visual content, together with audio and video. These are both suitable either as cruise enrichment lectures (45 minutes) and for music/arts societies (1hour plus questions).
New for 2025: ‘Mahler at Maiernigg: Transformations in the Sixth Symphony‘. This one hour lecture with video, audio, musical examples and rich visual content delivered by Keynote (hdmi required) traces the background of the composition of one of Mahler’s most powerful works, examines how the music foreshadows three tragic events in his personal life, and recommends some of the best available recordings. Whilst there is some technical musical content, this can also be simply enjoyed through the photos, art work, and sound clips. Suitable for all audiences with an interest in symphonic music.
Also ready in 2025: ‘Songs and Symphonies of Life and Death: the Final Three Masterpieces of Gustav Mahler‘ with video, audio, and some revealing secrets in Mahler’s manuscripts. The third in this series of lectures will also be available: ‘Claudio at Lucerne, 2013: Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony‘ in which we learn details from the lives of Claudio Abbado and Anton Bruckner, the symphonic process in the mind of the composer, and hear excerpts from perhaps the greatest recorded performance of Bruckner’s final masterpiece, conducted by one of the most wonderful musicians working at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
And finally, a stunning and exciting new presentation for 2025: ‘Richard Strauss and His Heroines‘. Video, audio, and rich visual content: a survey of the most beautiful moments in the music of Strauss, revealing some fascinating secrets and enjoying some fabulous singing!
Previous Presentations:
1. Sugar, Silver, and Silence: The thrilling colonial heritage of the churches of Latin America
2. Coffee, Gold, and Candomblé: Brazilian music across the centuries
3. Messiaen in Japan: Transcending Musical Borders – Poetic postcards of shrines and temples from Olivier and Yvonne’s honeymoon tour
4. From Ouessant to Paris: Tournemire as Mystic Symbolist – How can a composer engage convincingly with theology, and how does this music speak of God?
5. Listening to the Soul of Africa: Journeys Across the Continent – From the Serengeti to the Congo, from Zimbabwe to Namibia, finally arriving in Senegal, Simon traces his experiences and reveals his informants…
6. Puccini on the World Stage: Masterpieces of Opera – Simon investigates what makes Puccini’s music so memorable.
7. Musical Glories of Russia: The Orthodox Choral Tradition – Simon explores over one thousand years of magnificent music, including some of his research on hidden gems by St. Petersburg composers.
8. Musical Glories of the Baltic: Hanseatic Cities and Bach – Simon investigates the sonorous sounds of this mighty northern trading league, and the influence the music of these composers had on J. S. Bach.
9. Shostakovich: A Life in Symphonies – Any visit to St. Petersburg would be incomplete without an understanding of its modern history as documented in the music of Shostakovich. Simon asks: was this composer dissident or repressed artist?
10. Tender is the North – A journey through musical developments, exploring glorious sounds as a mirror of cultural heritage.
11. Music of the Beyond: Beyond Music? Find out why the devil doesn’t necessarily have all the best tunes…
12. The Music of Spain and Catalonia – From the Golden Age to Flamenco: Fervent devotion and Iberian flair in music, painting, and architecture.
13. Portuguese Music – Let’s take a stroll around Lisbon with Fernando Pessoa!
Since 2000 Simon has been a lecturer and workshop leader for cruise lines around the world, delivering enrichment presentations, choral workshops, and destination lectures for passengers. With Saga he was a regular on the Baltic classical music itineraries, also travelling with Saga to the Caribbean, Iceland, Canary Islands and Mediterranean, as well as specialising in the music of Africa for Saga Pearl II’s farewell cruise, visiting Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, St. Helena, and Senegal. He has also lectured for Abercrombie & Kent, Voyages of Discovery (Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Chile, Peru & South Pacific, Indonesia & Thailand, Amazon, Greenland, White Sea), Fred Olsen, Cunard, and Viking. As well as Destination and Port lectures covering itineraries around the globe, Simon now offers two general interest presentations which are new for 2025: ‘Around The World in Eighty Snaps‘ celebrates his 100th UN country, and ‘Voodoo and Volcanoes‘ does exactly what it says on the tin…