Conductor

Simon Tillier is a member of the music faculty at the University of Minnesota, Morris. He is the conductor of the UMM Wind Ensembles and Orchestra and serves as Professor of Conducting.

He was born in Middlesex, England, near London, and studied clarinet before going on to complete undergraduate work at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. It was there that he played in one of Britain’s finest conservatoire wind and symphony orchestras, working with many noted conductors including Sir Charles Groves, David Lloyd-Jones, Timothy Reynish, Clark Rundell and En Shao. Following a period of freelance work playing, conducting and teaching, Mr. Tillier relocated to the county of Hertfordshire, near London, where he directed wind ensembles and orchestras as well as a program of chamber music for students. Until 2006 he held the posts of Deputy Head of the Mid-Herts Centre for Music and Arts in Hatfield and County Assistant Woodwind Coordinator.

In September 2006 Mr. Tillier traveled to Canada to undertake an advanced course in conducting with Glenn D. Price at the University of Calgary. As the recipient of the Norman J. Kennedy Graduate Scholarship Donald R. Hayes Memorial Scholarship, the Allan Gordon Bell Distinguished Faculty Graduate Achievement Award from the Faculty of Fine Arts, he has also had the opportunity to study with the Morihiro Okabe, Wayne Toews, and Timothy Reynish. In 2008 he commenced doctoral studies in conducting at the College-Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati with Rodney Winther.

Mr. Tillier has taught summer schools, guest conducted honor bands and directed community ensembles in the U.K., U.S.A., and Canada. In addition to having served as conductor to the Israeli Youth Wind Orchestra and artistic director to the Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble, in 2010 he travelled to Colombia, South America, as guest conductor and clinician to the Orquesta Latinoamericana de Vientos. More recently, in Summer 2011, he was invited by the Chinese government to conduct the Youth Symphonic Band in Hong Kong as part of the regional summer program of music activities for students and teachers. Mr. Tillier serves as orchestral manager to the WASBE Youth Wind Orchestra as part of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles. In late 2011 he will return to Colombia as artistic director to the first Latin American Chamber Music Festival.