Edward Simoni

Edward Simoni has a strong case for being Europe's most successful panpipe player, having accrued eight gold and three platinum records in a career that's spanned three decades and taken him far beyond the borders of his native Poland.

Simoni's musical education began when he was seven when he began studying piano and violin. At 14 he incorporated the flute into his repertoire and from there he taught himself the instrument that he would build his reputation with - the panpipe. In 1990 Simoni released his first (and still perhaps his best-known) album, 'Pan-Träume'. It went gold and in 1991 won the ZDF hit parade in Berlin, kicking off a series of albums that came out at a rate of one a year for the rest of the decade (and two in 1998). His output didn't really slow until 2005, and only then to an album every two or three years.

Over the course of his career Simoni has worked with a number of international artists and composers, including the likes of James Last, Russian harpist Tatjana Seyffert, Michael Hirte and Christian Franke.