in October 1985, started to play the violin at the age of five at the Northern
College of Music in the Netherlands in a special music project for young children
and subsequently at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, with Professor
Davina van Wely.
In 1997 Simone moved to England
to continue her studies at The Yehudi Menuhin School with Professor Hu Kun,
with whom she studied until 2004 at The Royal Academy of Music in London. At
the Academy Simone became the youngest student ever to enter the Bachelor of
Music course, and graduated in 2005 with a first class honours degree as a student
of Professor Maurice Hasson. She was awarded with the ÂHRH Princess AliceÂs
Prize for exemplary studentship, the ÂLouise Child Prize for the highest achievement
of the Bmus Graduands and the ÂRoth Prize for the best violin exam result.
During those years she was chosen
to perform in many masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Thomas Brandis,
Zakhar Bron, Herman Krebbers, Yehudi Menuhin and Sylvia Rosenberg.
As a soloist Simone appeared with,
among others, the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Northern Dutch Orchestra,
the Hague Residentie Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Soloists
Chamber Orchestra, , the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquesta
Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, KZN Philharmonic
Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and Slovak Sinfonietta
of Zilina, working with renowned conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Eri Klas,
Carlos Riazuelo, Jac van Steen, Michel Tabachnik, Yan Pascal Tortelier, and
Allin Vlasenko. Simone is also, to great acclaim, a committed member of many
chamber music ensembles.
Simone has won numerous national
and international awards and scholarships, most notably the 1st prize
in the China International Violin Competition 2005, the 1st Prize
in the Benjamin Britten International Violin Competition 2004 and the 1st
Prize in the National Dutch Violin Competition 2003.
Without the generous support ofthe
Royal Academy of Music, the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, the Hattori Foundation,
Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Prins Bernhard Cultuur Foundation, the Dutch
Foundation for Amateurkunst and Podiumkunsten and the Dutch Vanden Ende Foundation
it would not have been possible for Simone to complete her studies in England.
Simone is playing on the ÂHabeneckÂ
Stradivarius 1734, which is generously loaned to her by the Royal Academy of
Music; the Academy has never before loaned this instrument to a student.
