Marlon Simon Awarded 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship

Educator, Percussionist, Composer Marlon Simon has been awarded a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of Music Composition.

Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for mid-career individuals who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts and exhibit great promise for their future endeavors. 

Fellowships are awarded through an annual competition open to citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada. Candidates must apply to the Guggenheim Foundation in order to be considered.

The Foundation receives approximately 3,000 applications each year. No one who applies is guaranteed success in the competition and there is no prescreening; all applications are reviewed. Approximately 175 Fellowships are awarded each year.

Announcing the 2022 Guggenheim Fellows

180 scientists, writers, scholars, and artists honored across 51 fields

(New York, NY) On April 7, 2022, the Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation approved the awarding of Guggenheim Fellowships to a diverse group of 180 exceptional individuals. Chosen from a rigorous application and peer review process out of almost 2500 applicants, these successful applicants were appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise. See the list of new Fellows here.

“Now that the past two years are hopefully behind all of us, it is a special joy to celebrate the Guggenheim Foundation’s new class of Fellows,” said Edward Hirsch, President of the Guggenheim Foundation and 1985 Fellow in Poetry. “This year marks the Foundation’s 97th annual Fellowship competition. Our long experience tells us what an impact these annual grants will have to change people’s lives. The work supported by the Foundation will aid in our collective effort to better understand the new world we’re in, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going. It is an honor for the Foundation to help the Fellows carry out their visionary work.”

In all, 51 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields, 81 different academic institutions, 31 states and the District of Columbia, and four Canadian provinces are represented in this year’s class of Fellows, who range in age from 33 to 75. Close to 60 Fellows have no full-time college or university affiliation. Many Fellows’ projects directly respond to issues like climate change, pandemics, Russia, feminism, identity, and racism. See the full Press Release here.

About Marlon Simon

Educator, Percussionist, Composer Marlon Simon was born in the small town of Punta Cardón, Falcón state, Venezuela. His first contact with music, at the age of 10, came from his father, Hadsy Simon, a philosopher with deep insights into spiritualism and metaphysics, and guitarist and vocalist. He came to the United States in 1987 and began formal studies on drums at The University of The Arts in Philadelphia. In 1988, he received a grant from the Philadelphia Music Foundation. He moved to New York in 1989, and later obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music from the New School for Social Research. During his studies, Marlon worked locally in the city, developing his unique style and gaining the respect of noted jazz and Latin musicians.

Marlon has worked with such luminaries as Hilton Ruíz, Dave Valentin, Jerry González, Chucho Valdés and Bobby Watson to mention a few. After several years, he formed his own Latin jazz ensemble, Marlon Simon and The Nagual Spirits. With his own group Marlon got the opportunity to showcase his talents as a composer and drummer, defining a distinct approach to Latin Jazz. As a leader Marlon has since released: The Music of Marlon Simon (K-Jazz, 1999), followed by Rumba a la Patato (Cubop Records 2000) and Live in La Paz, Bolivia (Intrigue Records, 2005) and later In Case You Missed It (Jazzheads, 2006). After spending much time in France, Marlon forged an alliance with several local musicians and produced two critically received recordings. These are: French Latin Jazz Project – Afrocuban & Live (Chantilly Negra Productions, 2008) and Venezuelan French Project (Proyecto Venezolano Francés) – Racines (Raíces) (Chantilly Negra Productions, 2011). The 2008 recording is a prodigious example of excellence in  Latin Jazz while the 2011 recording reflects the collision between Venezuelan and French-Celtic-Music. Marlon’s music has frequently taken him around the globe apart from France to Canada, Poland, Australia, Netherland Antilles, USA and, of course, various countries in South America. Read full bio at: https://marlonsimon.com/biography