Leo Simon

Leo Simon, hailing from Potomac Maryland, is currently a third-year Percussion Fellow at the New World Symphony. Previously, he was Principal Percussion of the Tulsa Symphony. Leo has performed with the National Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and New Jersey Symphony, among others. During the summer, he has been a fellow at the Verbier and Pacific music festivals in Switzerland and Japan respectively and has also been the Charlie Owen Fellow and Conducting Academy Timpanist of the Aspen Music Festival.

Leo has worked under the batons of esteemed conductors including Simon Rattle, Gianandrea Noseda, Valery Gergiev and Klaus Makela, and has performed on stages such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, The Concertgebouw and Berlin Philharmonic.

Leo received his master’s degree in orchestral performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where his principal teachers included Joseph McIntyre, Greg Zuber, Chris Lamb and Matthew Strauss. He earned a bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School. A passionate educator, he worked as a mentor for both its Pre-College and Music Advancement programs.

Other than percussion, Leo enjoys pickup volleyball, chess, lentil soup and a sunny day at the beach.