Peter Simon, President of The Royal Conservatory of Music
Dr. Peter Simon
President, The Royal Conservatory of Music
Profile: Dr. Peter Simon has served as President of The Royal Conservatory of Music since 1991, and during this period has overseen a dynamic and dramatic transformation of the venerable Canadian institution founded in 1886.
The $110 million campaign for the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning is the most recent milestone in Dr. Simon’s long-term plan for the Conservatory. When first appointed President, he refashioned the organization’s mission, which under his guidance became “To develop human potential through leadership in music and arts education.”
Some of the new accomplishments attained under Dr. Simon’s leadership include the creation of Learning Through the Arts (LTTA), an acclaimed educational initiative now used in more than 300 schools nationwide, as well as around the world. Dr. Simon was also responsible for the launch of The Glenn Gould School, the restructuring of RCM Examinations, and the formation of the celebrated ensemble ARC – Artists of The Royal Conservatory.
As a result of the new initiatives launched over the past decade, the number of people across Canada and around the world who learn through Royal Conservatory programs has increased dramatically to an estimated 500,000 individuals in Canada alone.
Dr. Simon’s relationship with the Conservatory is several decades old. He began his musical education at the Conservatory as a student of Boris Berlin. He then went on to study at New York’s Juilliard School and in London with Louis Kentner.
Dr. Simon received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in 1983 from the University of Michigan while studying with Leon Fleisher. He subsequently divided his time between performing, teaching and artistic direction. In 1986, Dr. Simon joined The Royal Conservatory as Director of Academic Studies.
In 1989, Dr. Simon was appointed President of the Manhattan School of Music. He returned to The Royal Conservatory in 1991 to take up the position of President at the Conservatory when it gained its independence from the University of Toronto.
Dr. Simon chairs the Arts Education sub-committee of the Minister’s Advisory Council for Arts and Culture, an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Culture.
In 2002, Dr. Simon was honoured by the Cadillac Fairview Salute to the City awards for his contributions to education in Toronto. In 2006, he received a “City Soul” Urban Leadership Award from the Canadian Urban Institute.
He is also one of 50 prominent Hungarian-Canadians whose contributions to creativity and innovation in Canada were celebrated in 2006 as part of a series of special events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising.
Dr. Simon is married to the Canadian pianist Dianne Werner. They have two children, Nicole and Justin.
