Simone Menezes is a visionary musician known for her excellence and innovative spirit. Whether as the founder and artistic director of his ensemble K, as a coveted guest conductor with many of the world's most respected orchestras or in her stunningly creative projects in partnership between music and other arts.
Currently based in France, Simone has conducted orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, National Symphonic Orchestra of Brazil, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, some projects with the Philharmonie de Paris, among others.
She has premiered more than 20 works and her recordings are critically acclaimed, such as her latest DVD Metanoia has won the prize for the best “PERFORMANCE & DOCUMENTARIES” at the International Classical Music Awards 2023!
With very committed artistic choices, she created the acclaimed “Amazonia” project as a command of Philharmonie de Paris: a collaboration between Simone and the great photographer Sebastiao Salgado, featuring the music of Villa-Lobos and the landscapes of the Amazon rainforest. Amazonia has just been recorded by the Zurich Opera.
From 2008 to 2012, Simone Menezes was music director of the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra and becomes the second woman to hold a professional orchestra in Brazil. Within this orchestra she won the "Best Brazilian Musical Project" by the Association of Musical Critics of Sao Paulo. Simone Menezes regularly collaborates with her long-term mentor Paavo Järvi, assisting him over the years with orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Staatskapelle Berlin.
At the age of 20 she formed her first orchestra in Brazil, the Camerata Latino Americana, a group specializing in the interpretation of Latin American repertoire. The work and model of this ground-breaking ensemble received recognition from the International Society for the Performing Arts of New York. Simone Menezes studied conducting in Brazil, then at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris where she graduated after only one year of study. She regularly received tutelage from Colin Metters in London and developed her repertoire during residencies with the Remix Ensemble (Portugal) and Ensemble Multilaterale (Paris). Her mentors include Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Leonid Grin, Marin Alsop, Claudio Cruz Thomas Ades, and Lera Auerbach. In 2019, Simone Menezes won second prize at Mawoma (Maestra Music and Women's Competition) in Vienna. In 2020, she launched her new orchestra, Ensemble K, a flexible ensemble specializing in the larger chamber repertoire of the 20th century.
Currently based in France, Simone has conducted orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, National Symphonic Orchestra of Brazil, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, some projects with the Philharmonie de Paris, among others.
She has premiered more than 20 works and her recordings are critically acclaimed, such as her latest DVD Metanoia has won the prize for the best “PERFORMANCE & DOCUMENTARIES” at the International Classical Music Awards 2023!
With very committed artistic choices, she created the acclaimed “Amazonia” project as a command of Philharmonie de Paris: a collaboration between Simone and the great photographer Sebastiao Salgado, featuring the music of Villa-Lobos and the landscapes of the Amazon rainforest. Amazonia has just been recorded by the Zurich Opera.
From 2008 to 2012, Simone Menezes was music director of the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra and becomes the second woman to hold a professional orchestra in Brazil. Within this orchestra she won the "Best Brazilian Musical Project" by the Association of Musical Critics of Sao Paulo. Simone Menezes regularly collaborates with her long-term mentor Paavo Järvi, assisting him over the years with orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Staatskapelle Berlin.
At the age of 20 she formed her first orchestra in Brazil, the Camerata Latino Americana, a group specializing in the interpretation of Latin American repertoire. The work and model of this ground-breaking ensemble received recognition from the International Society for the Performing Arts of New York. Simone Menezes studied conducting in Brazil, then at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris where she graduated after only one year of study. She regularly received tutelage from Colin Metters in London and developed her repertoire during residencies with the Remix Ensemble (Portugal) and Ensemble Multilaterale (Paris). Her mentors include Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Leonid Grin, Marin Alsop, Claudio Cruz Thomas Ades, and Lera Auerbach. In 2019, Simone Menezes won second prize at Mawoma (Maestra Music and Women's Competition) in Vienna. In 2020, she launched her new orchestra, Ensemble K, a flexible ensemble specializing in the larger chamber repertoire of the 20th century.