Sir Simon Rattle was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal Academy of Music. From 1980-1998 Sir Simon was Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and was appointed Music Director in 1990. In 2002 he took up the position of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker where he remained until July 2018. Sir Simon became Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra in September 2017. Sir Simon has made over 70 recordings for EMI label (now Warner Classics) and has received numerous prestigious international awards for his recordings on various labels. The first recording released by Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings was Sir Simon and a complete recording of Schumann Symphonies. He then went on to release several other recordings under the orchestra's house label. Simon’s most recent recordings have been released by the London Symphony Orchestra’s record label, LSO Live. Working with the world's greatest orchestras and opera houses, his recent appearances include the LSO, Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Berlin and Wiener Philharmoniker. In the opera world, he has recently conducted at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, and the Deutsch Oper Berlin. Sir Simon Rattle was knighted in 1994 and in the New Year’s Honours of 2014 he received the Order of Merit from Her Majesty the Queen.