Simon Halvarsson

Percussion and marimba - minimalism, virtuosity and beauty

Inspiration and meaning in making music and everyday life come from randomly composed elements such as parallel accelerandi in pedestrians and in headphones, naturally occurring extraordinary formations or falling leaves. Coincidence that arranges something higher; either in a humorous way or as an almost religious experience. Synchronicity if you will.

Simon Halvarsson is educated in the master's program with solo and chamber music specialization at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm between 2014 and 2017. He received his bachelor's artistic degree from the Academy of Music at Örebro University in 2014.

Simon treats the classical percussion instruments and the drum set, but has his expertise in solo percussion and mallet instruments, especially marimba and percussion arrangements.

As a marimba soloist, he performs everything from complex works from the standard repertoire, newly written, transcriptions by JSBach and other composers as well as works by Japanese composers such as Miyoshi, Sueyoshi and Miki, who, according to Simon, use the full potential of marimba. Repertoire selection depends in part on the room in question, as the resonance should reflect the works.

When the sound of the marimba is generated via an original living material - rosewood - Simon's notion that the instruments breathe and have a soul is reinforced through their history. The tones are perceived as individual with their own characteristics. Simon also sees the movements that are formed in interpretation or improvisation as highly relevant and tries to put these in focus and be present in them in order to experience the rhythm of the music with several senses.

With extensive experience of ensemble playing, Simon also likes to combine different art expressions and forms and has constellations with other musicians as well as dancers and performance artists.

The collaboration with the dancer Marcella Quinchavíl Stéen consists partly of improvisation but also of theoretically combined notation to equate the art forms. Minimalism is a key word for the constellation.