Simon Francis Murphy (born 26 August 1973 in Balmain, Sydney) is an international award-winning, Dutch-based, Australian conductor and viola player with a focus on the music of the 18th and early 19th centuries. He is a leading member of the new generation of specialist early music performers. He is regularly invited to conduct at the celebrated European music festivals in halls, and since 2002, He became the chief conductor and artistic director of The Hague's Baroque Orchestra, The New Dutch Academy (NDA). Murphy is notable for his pioneering work in rediscovering and reintroducing FORGOTTEN on the 18th-century, European and symphonic composers, particularly from and related to the Mannheim School (Mannheimer Schule). Resulting from his research, Murphy has also been responsible for unveiling the previously unknown Dutch on 18th-century symphonic tradition, and presenting it to the world through performances on radio and TV broadcasts, and the first CD recording of symphonic heritage. In particular, he has championed 18th-century composers Joseph Schmitt "The Dutch Haydn" and Francesco Zappa, making the first CD recordings and new editions of their symphonic works. Murphy has won major music industry awards, including the Dutch Edison Award and Luxembourg's Supersonic Award. His groundbreaking performance of Corelli's Concerti Grossi at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in 2003, recorded for CD by Pentatone, was chosen as one of the top 5 highlights of the festival's 30-year history. Murphy made his Amsterdam Het Concertgebouw and Brussels Le Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR / Centre for Fine Arts) conducting débuts in 2004, and his débuts at the Handel Festival, Halle, in 2008 and Bachfest Leipzig in 2010. In the double role of conductor/soloist (viola), Murphy has appeared at major venues and festivals including The Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Sydney Festival, Istanbul Music Festival and Premiere Performances Hong Kong. As a guest conductor, he has worked with a wide variety of ensembles, choirs and orchestras ranging from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to the Latvian State Choir and Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. As a performer, programmer and curator, he is also known for his work in the realm of international cultural diplomacy. Profile and reputation Praised as "a repertoire-refresher" by France's Diapason, "the Indiana Jones of the Baroque" by Dutch classical radio, "a musician with 'guts': a conductor with the passion and conviction of a born missionary" by De Volkskrant, and "The hottest property on the European baroque scene" by The Australian, Murphy has won international recognition