A leading Bay Area guitarist and sixteen-year veteran of the groundbreaking San Francisco Guitar Quartet, Mark Simons’ natural musicality and impressive technique have long been appreciated. Mark has released a critically acclaimed solo release, Blue in Green, as well as four recordings with the San Francisco Guitar Quartet.

His diverse and engaging programming is notable for its variety, depth and color. He has presented numerous concerts, both as soloist and chamber musician throughout New England, the Mid Atlantic, California and Germany. He performs in the guitar duo SFG2 with rising star Roberto Granados and with flutist Carmen Lemoine.

He has toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, including performances with the Grammy Award winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and in duet with flutist Catherine Payne of the San Francisco Symphony.

Mark Simons’ enduring devotion to new, World and improvisatory music is evidenced by numerous performances as well as recordings of several world premieres including: “Variacione Casi Latina” by Dusan Bogdanovic (written for Mark Simons) and Paul Dresher’s “Guitar Quartet 1975”. Mark Simons’ playing is featured on all four recorded releases by the San Francisco Guitar Quartet. The 2003 SFGQ release “Compadres” was awarded “Top CD of 2003” by Acoustic Guitar magazine.

Mark Simons is a Fulbright Scholar in Guitar Performance (Stuttgart, Germany) and received both the Outstanding Graduate and Chamber Music Departmental Awards from the University of Southern California where he was an Assistant Lecturer and Outreach Coordinator for the Guitar Department.

Mark Simons is a Fulbright scholar & has earned degrees with distinction from the New England Conservatory of Music, Tufts University, The University of Southern California and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.

Mark currently runs private teaching studios in San Francisco as well as worldwide online and is faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Diablo Valley College, Laney College, and the San Domenico School.