Simon Gjoni
| Simon Gjoni | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 28, 1925 Shkodër, Albania |
| Died | October 31, 1991 (aged 66) |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Style | Classical, 20th century, |
Simon Gjoni (Shkodër, 1925–1991) was an Albanian conductor, and composer of many popular pieces for piano and orchestra.
Simon Gjoni was born on October 28, 1925 in the city of Shkodër, Albania. He was educated in a rank and file urban family and graduated from the "Illyricum" High School of the city. Very soon he learned to play guitar, trombone, the piano and devoted himself with enthusiasm and passion to the art of music. In the years of his youth, he composed over 200 original songs, which were immediately sung in the city of Shkodër and were spread all over Albania, such as "Lule Bore" (English: Hortensia), "Syte e tu si drite" (English: Your Eyes Like Light), "Weaving girl".
He completed his studies over the years 1952–1958 in the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Czechoslovakia). During the years 1956-1958 in the city of Prague, he conducted: Franz Schubert's Rosamunda, Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt's, Jiří Antonín Benda's Pygmalion, K. Dittersdorff "Concert symphony for violin and contrabass", and Franz Liszt's Les Preludes.
In 1958 he returned to Tirana, where he started teaching at the Artistic Lyceum of Tirana and later in 1961 was among the first lecturers in Academy of Music and Arts of Albania, where he prepared whole generations of musicians and artists, teaching the subjects of polyphony, orchestration, conducting, intonation and chamber music. In 1958, while being a teacher, he also worked for the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania, where he conducted many worldwide renowned works, which were interpreted for the first time in Albania. Such works were: Gaetano Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Gioachino Rossini's Barber of Seville, Tish Daija's Pranvera (English: The Spring), and two ballets (by Sergei Vasilenko's Lola, and Alexander Krein's Laurencia). Under his care and passion, he recorded many works of the Albanian composers: such as Çesk Zadeja, Pjetër Gaci, Nova, Tish Daija, Tonin Harapi, Pjetër Dungu, Grimci, Kono etc., and the music of some Albanian movies. In 1967, he conducted in China works by Albanian composers. Gjoni was also one of the founders of the Symphonic Orchestra of the Albanian Radio-Television. He worked persistently and with discipline for the establishment and growth of that group.
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