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BIOGRAPHY
Simon Kaplan is a United States-based French composer, music theorist and instructor. His oeuvre encompasses a diverse range of solo and chamber works, which have been premiered by esteemed performers across Belgium, Denmark, Japan and the United States. He presently serves at the University of North Texas as a teaching assistant and teaching fellow.
In 2021, the young artist invented diahemitonicism, a pioneering quarter-tonal composition system which has become a defining feature of his musical style. In 2024, he invented the kaplanophone, a quarter-tonal virtual keyboard instrument with an inharmonic timbre, playable via a pair of MIDI controllers equipped with two pedals. His articles on these innovations have been published in Tempo by Cambridge University Press.
The microtonalist earned his master's degree in composition from the Royal Flemish Conservatoire of Brussels in 2022, where he studied under Peter Swinnen. He furthered his academic pursuits in Claude Ledoux's class at the Royal Conservatoire of Mons, graduating in compositional didactics. Currently, he is pursuing doctoral studies in composition with a minor in music theory at the University of North Texas under the guidance of Kirsten Soriano and Sungji Hong. He expects to receive his Ph.D. in 2027.
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