Hailed for her “brilliant… polished, expressive and intense” (Cleveland Plain Dealer) and “absolutely stunning” (Chicago Tribune) playing, Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma is respected by critics, peers and audiences as one of classical music’s most striking and captivating musical personalities. Conductor Jaap van Zweden with whom Simone enjoys a regular collaboration, describes her as one of the leading violinists in the world.

With an extensive repertoire of over 60 Violin Concertos, Simone’s recent seasons have seen her perform with many of the world’s leading orchestras.

Notable recent highlights include her debut with the Chicago Symphony, described by the Chicago Tribune as “piercingly beautiful”,  as well as return invitations to the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, a tour of China with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden and debuts with the  Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra Oslo Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Hessischer Rundfunk Orchester and  Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Simone has been a guest  of orchestras like the London Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Rundfunk, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, RTVE Symphony, New Zealand Symphony.

Highlights for the 18/19 and 19/20 seasons include debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, Gürzenich Orchester, MDR Sinfonie Orchester Leipzigr, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and return invitations to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, RTE Symphony Orchestra.

Stand-out recent festival appearances include her return to the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Festival in 2015, debuts at Bravo! Vail Festival with Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as well as the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, about which the San Diego Reader wrote: “She (Simone Lamsma) appeared to be engaged with Beethoven on a level we seldom encounter….. Beethoven’s music was coming through her in a pure state.”

Besides her close collaboration with Jaap van Zweden, Simone has worked many other eminent conductors including Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Neville Marriner, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, James Gaffigan, Sir Andrew Davis, Andrès Orozco-Estrada, Jiří Bělohlávek, Marek Janowski, Carlos Kalmar, Kirill Karabits, Stéphane Denève, Hannu Lintu, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Fabien Gabel and James Feddeck.

A dedicated chamber musician, other recital appearances include Simone’s highly anticipated debuts in London’s Wigmore Hall and New York’s Carnegie Hall in March 2017 with pianist Robert Kulek, where their programme will include the world première of a new work by James MacMillan, commissioned by Carnegie Hall. She will also return to the Chicago Winter Chamber Music Festival Evanston performing sonatas and trios with pianist Andrew Armstrong and cellist Kenneth Olson.

In 2017 Simone’s most recent recording featuring Shostakoviich’s first violin concerto and Gubaidulina’s In Tempus praesens with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under James Gaffigan and Reinbert de Leeuw was released on Challenge Classics and received high accolades from the press, as did her previous Mendelssohn, Janáček and Schumann  CD with pianist Robert Kulek.

In addition to her many (inter)national prizes and distinctions, Simone was awarded the national Dutch VSCD Classical Music Prize in the category ‘New Generation Musicians’ in 2010, awarded by the Association of Dutch Theatres and Concert Halls to artists that have made remarkable and valuable contributions to the Dutch classical music scene.

Simone began studying the violin at the age of 5 and moved to the UK aged 11 to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Professor Hu Kun. At the age of 14 Simone made her professional solo debut with the North Netherlands Orchestra performing Paganini’s 1st Violin Concerto, her debut highly praised by the press. She continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Professor Hu Kun and Professor Maurice Hasson, where she graduated aged 19 with first class honours and several prestigious awards. In 2011, she was made an Associate of the RAM, an honour given to those students who have made significant and distinguished contributions to their field. Simone currently lives in The Netherlands.

Simone plays the “Mlynarski” Stradivarius (1718), on generous loan to her by an anonymous benefactor.