Raphaël Simon, born in 1983, studied Percussion in the Monaco Music Academy (Professor Christian Hamouy). In 2005 he is unanimously awarded a First Prize in percussions, and two years later he obtains his Specialization Prize with honours. He is granted a full scholarship allocated by the Princess Grace of Monaco Foundation, to take part in the Aspen Music Festival and School (Colorado)
Raphaël Simon play with famous artists like Jay Gottlieb, Gabriel Bacquier, Jean-Marc Aymes, Wilhem Latchoumia, Pascal Contet, Éric Sammut, William Mesguich, Emmanuel Rossfelder, Florie Valiquette, Rémi Jousselme… prestigius ensemble : Musicatreize, Justiniana, Déséquilibres, Concerto Soave Chœur Contemporain…
He has to premiere works from Jean-Pierre Drouet, Vinko Globokar, François Bernard Mâche, Zad Moultaka, James Wood, Philippe Boivin, David Hudry, Jean-Christophe Marti, Tôn-Thât Tiêt, Luca Antignani, François Meïmoun, Christophe Julien, Éric Sammut…
He has also been asked to play with different orchestras (Orchestre de Paris, Lyon Opera, Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, Monaco Philharmonic Orchestra… ) under the direction from Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, James Colon, David Robertson, Alan Gilbert, Julius Rudel, Yakov …
In 2014, he wrote and published The Percussion Guide, a numeric book, reference for composers.
Since 2013 , he is Artistic Director of the Hameau Fleuri : Cultural Center, Season of Concerts, Festival and Résidences in Normandy.