Simon A Morrison
Simon A Morrison

Upcoming writings

Books for Purchase
Stevie Nicks by Simon Morrison

Stevie Nicks under contract from University of California Press

Shostakovich by Simon Morrison

Shostakovich under contract from Norton

French edition of Bolshoi Confidential set to come out in November 2019

French edition of Bolshoi Confidential set to come out in November 2019

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cultural historian specializing in Soviet, Russian, and French music with expertise in dance, cinema, aesthetics, archival research, and historically informed performance

Simon Morrison has conducted archival research in St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Paris, London, New York, Washington DC, Copenhagen, and (most extensively) in Moscow.

Recently he has traveled to Tel Aviv, Beijing, Hong Kong, Montreal, Moscow, Copenhagen, and Bangkok to give invited lectures and graduate seminars.

Morrison's latest book is a comprehensive, archival history OF THE BOLSHOI BALLET PUBLISHED BY LIVERIGHT, the prestigious and storied imprint of W.W. Norton. Future books include studies of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, again based on new archival sources. Bolshoi Confidential is a “Booklist Editors’ Choice” for 2016.

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Author of...

Several books and articles including Russian Opera and the Symbolist Movement (California, 2002) and The People’s Artist: Prokofiev’s Soviet Years (Oxford, 2009) as well as editor of Prokofiev and His World (Princeton, 2008) and, with Klara Moricz, Funeral Games: In Honor of Arthur Vincent Lourié (Oxford, 2014). 

Shortlisted for the 2017 Pushkin Prize.  Learn more.

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Adviser to...

Conductors, choreographers, performers, and publishers of scores and scenarios for dances once lost to both historians and artists alike. Both Music for Athletes, by Serge Prokofiev and the original ending to Prokofiev's famed Romeo and Juliet were brought to life thanks to Simon's careful archival research, and collaboration with institutions such as Princeton University and Mark Morris Dance Group.

 

Morrison writes for a wide public, including readers of The New York Times, New York Review of Books, Threepenny Review, London Review of Books, and Times Literary Supplement. He serveD as president of the Prokofiev Foundation, and edited the journal Three Oranges, produced under its auspices.

 
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Simon & His Work In The News

News
Bryan Ferry and his Orchestra Announce New Album ‘Bitter-Sweet’ with a written introduction by Simon Morrison

The album embraces ragtime, blues, and jazz, and whilst they evoke nostalgia, hearing beloved songs in a fresh and exciting way gives the record an edge of modernity; jazz in the 1920s was the soundtrack of popular culture – itself a modern invention and it’s almost as if we’re hearing it for the first time…The album artwork, designed in the style of the period, includes a written introduction by Princeton University musicologist Simon Morrison, and in his analysis he points out “Bitter-Sweet accomplishes what the modernists of the past, in their youthful enthusiasm, could not…

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Within The Quota
New York Times: "Artists Across US Take to Stage to Protest Trump Policies"
Within The Quota

"The new production of "Within the Quota" stands as an act of resistance to the nativist calls within the Trump administration, said Simon Morrison, the Princeton music professor who rediscovered the ballet two years ago. During the election, Morrison said he saw parallels between the climate of the 1920s and today. "Given the political situation, I realized a complaint against immigration restrictions was apropos," Morrison said.... 

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Within The Quota
Within The Quota
Town Topics: "Princeton University Performs Ballet With Rarely Heard Cole Porter Score"
Within The Quota

Two years ago, Princeton University music professor Simon Morrison was working on an article in the archives of Yale University when he noticed the original score for a ballet by none other than Cole Porter. Within the Quota, which had libretto, scenery, and costumes by wealthy expatriate artist Gerald Murphy, premiered in Paris in 1923 and was Porter’s only commission for a ballet.

With its then-timely theme of immigration, Within the Quota was performed by a Swedish company, Ballet Suedois, to successful reviews in Europe and on an American tour. But when the troupe folded soon after, the work largely disappeared, said Mr. Morrison...

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Within The Quota
 
 
FEATURED PAST EVENTS
A Centenary Celebration of Prokofiev and America

The Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev first arrived in America on August 21, 1918, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and in the final act of the First World War. To mark the centenary of Prokofiev’s arrival, the Kennan Institute and the National Symphony Orchestra are pleased to present a celebration of Prokofiev and America. This event will feature a performance by the NSO's Last Stand Quartet of Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 1 in B Minor, Op. 50, which was commissioned by the Library of Congress in 1931. Princeton University musicologist Simon Morrison will deliver the keynote address, “Prokofiev’s Demons.”

The event will be followed by a reception.

International Symposium on Indigenous Communities and Climate Change Presented by The Humanities Council Fund for Canadian Studies, Program in Journalism and Princeton Environmental Institute

Two days of panels, discussions and activities with participation from journalists, scholars, and the students of the Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. Registration is free. More information here

Princeton University Ballet and Penguin Cafe present Cole Porter's Within The Quota

In collaboration with the London-based ensemble Penguin Cafe, Princeton University has reimagined Within The Quota, a pantomime-ballet from 1923. Within The Quota, with a score by Cole Porter, responded to restrictive immigration quotas based on national origin that were enacted in 1921.

shortlisted for the Pushkin Prize 2017.  

Click here to learn more about the award.