Pavol Simoncic, one of our Choir Section Leads, was born in Czechoslovakia in Slovak town Trnava in 1958. He had two sons by his previous marriage: Adam (who lives in Bratislava, Slovakia), and Lukas (who studied at Oregon State University but now lives in Zurich, Switzerland). Pavol moved to Vancouver in 2009 to be closer to his son who was then living in Oregon.
Once here, Pavol needed to to study English in order to establish himself in the musical field. He already spoke Slovak, Czech, and Russian — and also speaks some German, Italian and Latin.
Pavel obtained his Masters Degree in Music Education in Bratislava in 1982. It took nearly 2 years before he was able to find paying work in the field of music. Finally, he joined the Vancouver Bach Choir and it was there that he met Hans Krebs, who became a friend and ultimately invited him to sing one afternoon for the Krebs family. There, he met other members of our church community ….people such as John Biasucci, Brian Wellwood, and Brian McConnell. Through them, he was invited to participate in the North Shore Unitarian choir, Vox Lumina.
Pavol also has been teaching privately but is known internationally as a singer, choir director and educator. Currently, he is a member of a soloist ensemble of opera companies Opera Opulenza and Opera Mariposa. He helps as a section leader in Vox Lumina, and he directs the Vancouver-based Greater Moravia Choir which includes by Slovak and Czech members born in Czechslovakia who live in Vancouver.
Before settling in Vancouver, Pavol performed as a professional singer with the Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, as well as the Slovak National Theatre Opera Chorus rehearsing under the batons of well-known conductors Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta and Seiji Ozawa... in more then 30 countries all over the World!
Pavol‘s life outside of his intense interest in music includes activities such as cycling and swimming, and he follows a regular fitness schedule. He reads fiction as well as astronomy, astrophysics, philosophy, and history. Given these interests, perhaps Pavol might like to do a talk for us on astrophysics!