Born in Istanbul, Turkey then moved with his family to London,
England
at The age of six. When his father, a journalist, was transferred
to
NewYork, 12 year old Simavi developed his love for music. He took
up
the Piano at age 14, specializing in jazz. He further continued
his
studies In jazz at the Mannes College of Music.
Upon his graduation, he continued his study of music at
Pepperdine
University in Los Angeles. Encouraged to take a voice class by
one of
his friends, he was awarded a Special Award by his professor as
the
most talented vocalist in the school. In 1980 he formed a jazz
trio,
performing at various clubs as a vocalist.
After a United Nations debut performance, Simavi was hailed by
critics
as ' the new Frank Sinatra '.
In 1982 he performed at Lincoln Center with Eartha Kitt ( an
International theatre and film star). The following year, he
produced
and starred in his own local television show which ran for two
years.
In 1985 Simavi was selected to represent the United States at The
Golden Butterfly ( an International Music Festival held in
Europe). In
1998 he perfomed at The Lighthouse to rave reviews.
This will be Simavi's return engagement to the Merkin Concert
Hall Were
he appeared back in 1982. Currently Simavi is working with Lanny
Meyers
( six-time Emmy Award winning composer/arranger/ conductor) on an
upcoming CD release.
Lanny Meyers : Lanny Meyers is a 6-time Emmy Award winning
composer/arranger for network television. He has worked with
Elliot
Lawrence as a principle arranger of such annual broadcasts as the
Tony
Awards, and the Kennedy Center Honors; with Joe Sherman as
orchestrator
of the TV series 'In The Heat Of The Night '; with Rupert Holmes
on the
AMC cable series ' Remember WENN'.
He is a Varese Sarabande Recording artist, having been Musical
Director
for over two dozen CD albums, including Laurie Beechman's ' No
One Is
Alone '.
He has composed music for many award-winning animated films
Including
'Knitwits' and 'Fast-Food Matador' ( both shown at the New York
Film
Festival ) and ' A Warm Reception in LA.', all with Buzzco
Association.
He has accompanied some of America's greatest vocalists from
Patti
Labelle, Chubby Checker and Linda Hopkins, to Betty Buckley, Nora
York,
and Mercedes Hall, and is looking forward to touring Istanbul and
the
world with Simavi.