Simone has toured North America, Europe, and her original country of South Africa. She has also played with Burt Bacharach and Rod Stewart; appeared in commercials, television, video games and radio broadcasts.

It is hard to pinpoint my earliest childhood exposure to music. It was simply always there. I frequently saw my father, the painter Meyer Uranovsky, drop whatever he was doing and rush over to his mandolin to strum out a little melody, or grab his bongos, a table or countertop to drum out an intricate rhythm. My slightly more formal musical training began at school in my home-town of Cape Town, South Africa. All the kids were lined up and ushered one-by-one into the auditorium where they found a strange man hovering over a piano. During my audition I was asked to clap a rhythm, sing a little melody and was then told the verdict – I would be appointed a cello…

Luckily I fell in love with the cello, and from that moment on I always wanted to be playing. I lost countless hours foraging for notes up and down the ebony fingerboard, searching for a way to express myself by mastering bow control and vibrato. By the age of 15 I was playing solo with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra on a major stage, an opportunity which drove me to pursue my cello career further. Armed with a scholarship and a beautiful French cello given to me just months before by a generous benefactor, I set out at the age of 18 for the United States. My studies eventually took me all over this wonderful country, perhaps most notably to Yale where I had the great fortune to work with the legendary Aldo Parisot.

I am now based in Los Angeles with my family, and became a US citizen in 2012. My musical journey has allowed me to tour throughout the US, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. My work remains diverse, a jazz quartet one week and a nationally endowed improvisatory chamber ensemble the next week. Music has also given me many wonderful opportunities – playing cello with pop stars such as The Eagles, Glen Hansard, Burt Bacharach, Rod Stewart and Bollywood legend Shreya Ghoshal, recording soundtracks for Hollywood movies and video games, and appearing in commercials, TV and radio shows. Perhaps most rewarding of all, I have been able to pass on my love of cello to my students, the next generation of cello players. This has been a wonderfully magical adventure so far, and one I hope to continue for many years to come.