Simon Gjoni

Simon Gjoni (Shkodër, 1925–1991) was an Albanian conductor, and composer of many popular pieces for piano and orchestra. Life Simon Gjoni was born on October 28, 1925, in the city of Shkodër, Albania. He was educated in a rank and file urban family and graduated from the “Illyricum” High School of the city. Very soon he learned to play guitar, trombone, the piano and devoted himself with enthusiasm and passion to the art of music. In the years of his youth, he composed over 200 original songs, which were immediately sung in the city of Shkodër and were spread all over Albania, such as “Lule Bore” (Snowflower), “Syte e tu si drite” (English: Your Eyes Like Light), “Weaving girl”. Ispecially the song “Lulebore” became really famous in Albania with a continuous success for over 60 years and is the first albanian song to achieve international success after it was performed in Russia, China, Vietnam, Chekoslovakia, Italy, USA etc. He completed his studies over the years 1952–1958 in the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Czechoslovakia). During the years 1956-1958 in the city of Prague, he conducted: Franz Schubert’s Rosamunde, Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt, Jiří Antonín Benda’s Pygmalion