Composer, arranger, performer, teacher, critic, Mark G. Simon is active in many fields of musical endeavor. Mr. Simon received his Bachelor of Music degree at Florida State University, where he studied clarinet with Harry Schmidt and composition with John Boda, Harold Schiffman, and a semester with composer-in-residence Krzysztof Penderecki.

He received his Masters of Music in Composition from Ithaca College, studying with Karel Husa, and continuing his clarinet instruction with Robert Schmidt. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University, studying composition with Karel Husa and Robert Palmer. Currently he continues his study of the clarinet with Steven Hartman, principal clarinet of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Associate Principal clarinet of the New York City Opera and Ballet.

Mr. Simon’s compositions include the musicals Mr. Natural, presented in Ithaca in 1990, Jennie’s Will, written for the bicentennial of the Village of Dryden and first performed in 1997, and Downsizing, presented at SUNY Morrisville in 1998. He has written vocal music, orchestral music, works for clarinet and many chamber ensembles. In 2004, he collaborated with actor and director Davide Giovanzana on Red and Brown, a dramatic work uniting mime, masks and music selected from Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Schubert and Simon himself. Red and Brown was performed in January, 2004 by The Notorious Company and Music’s Recreation, and at the Fringe Festival in New York City in August, 2004. Feb. 29, 2004 saw the premiere of his Five Emily Dickinsongs with Steven Stull, baritone, and Mr. Simon on bass clarinet. Mr. Simon's musical arrangements are featured in several tracks in the CD Opera Cowpokes from CRS Barn Records. Taughannock Tickle and Kandahar Rag, both for clarinet quartet, premiered in 2005.

On April 1, 2007, Carnival of the Subatomic Particles, a 13-movement work commissioned by Music's Recreation for chamber group and narrator (poem by N. David Mermin), received its premiere in Ithaca, NY. The poem's narrator was Barbara Mink, founder of the Light in Winter Festival. Opening remarks were given by Prof. Jim Alexander, Director of Cornell University's Laboratory for Elementary-Particle Physics.

As a clarinetist, he has performed with the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Ithaca Opera Association, the Cornell Contemporary Ensemble, the Tri-Cities Opera, Colgate Symphony, the Cayuga Woodwind Quintet, and has appeared in recital with pianists Aleeza Meir and Wendy Maraniss. He performed Howard Sandroff's Tephillah, for clarinet and electronics, at Colgate University in October, 2004, and in July, 2005, performed with the Belleayre Festival Orchestra.

He taught clarinet and music theory at the Community School of Music and Arts in Ithaca, where he directed a clarinet ensemble open to anyone who plays the clarinet, and is the founding director of the Ezra Quartet, which plays in and around Ithaca, NY.

He has been well known to readers of the Ithaca Times for his insightful reviews of local musical events. From 1985 to 2007, he covered orchestral, operatic, and chamber music performances and interviewed many of the famous musicians passing through this city, such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenburg, the Cuarteto Latinamericano, and the King’s Singers. His interview with Richard Stoltzman appeared in the June 2003 issue of The Clarinet, the journal of the International Clarinet Association.

In March, 2007, Mr. Simon relocated to the Washington, D.C. area.