AbOUT

Chanan Ben Simon is a vocalist, composer and a multimedia artist, born in Jerusalem, Israel to parents of Jewish Morrocan descent, currently Brooklyn based. Chanan’s work combines voice, sound, visuals, installation art and new media. It mixes pop culture with experimental practices, making him active both in the mainstream music world (as ‘Ben Simone’) as well as the experimental art scene, while making a contribution for building the bridge between the two.

In 2021, Chanan released his second TV opera ‘Fire Heart’ which is a sequel to the 2020 ‘Weather Channel’, in collaboration with the visual artist Inkyoung Bae. Fire Heart was selected for ‘Lift off Film Festival’ in New York, as well as Seoul International ATL Cinema and Media Festival, and already received a warm welcome from its viewers. The ongoing collaboration with Inkyoung also includes ‘Dino Show’ (2018), a visual-musical installation/performance, presented in the Bellwether Gallery, NY and the EMAF festival in Korea. The team also created the performance and short film `Dream Data’ (2019) as a part of their residency at ‘Andy’s Playhouse’ in New Hampshire. 

Ben Simone, Chanan’s pop star alter ego, released his debut album ‘Toy Store’ in 2016, produced by Rea Mochiach and supported by the record label Anova. The album was critically acclaimed, got accepted to Israeli mainstream radio and TV playlists (for example - Galgalatz and Channel 24), got reviews on print and online media and was accompanied by a long Israeli tour. These days, Ben Simone is releasing his second LP, ‘Party Tears’, after already performing it in Israel, Taiwan and New York, and releasing 3 singles which were also played on Israeli media and entered the playlist of Galgalatz.

Chanan’s work in the ‘experimental’ realm includes his latest composition LINEAGE(S) commissioned by the Metropolis ensemble NYC (2021) in collaboration with Constellation Chor, ‘Telepresence’ (2020) which is a new multi-media composition in collaboration with the voice artist Yifeat Ziv commissioned by Israel Festival, dozens of performances with the NY based experimental vocal ensemble “Constellation Chor” (2018-current), a founding member of the vocal performance quartet ‘ABRA Ensemble’ (2014-2019), a regular guest of the Israeli experimental ensemble ‘Musica Nova’ (2016-current) which performed music by Robert Ashly, Cardew, Joan La Barbara, Amnon Wolman and more, playing a lead role in the new opera ‘Odradek’ (2020) produced by Bare Opera NYC, singing and co-composing music for ‘Castle in Time’ orchestra (2017-2019) and many more.

Chanan also creates music for different kinds of media, such as - scores for the documentary films ‘SiSi’ (2021) and ‘Muraho Rwanda (working title)’ (2020) for the Korean company MIWOO, music for the stage piece Miseducated (2019) by Flesh Mob performed at the Tank and Judson Church, NYC. Music for dance performances such as ‘Kdusha’ (2016) by Tomer Dahan and Tulips (2014) in collaboration with Keren Sancho, art installations like ‘Swallowed Rooms’ by Maya Baran or ‘Cough Symphony’ with the artist Yoav Weinfeld.

Chanan got to the public awareness in Israel back in 2012, when he reached the finals of the  TV singing competition ‘The Voice’ and became a household name. He holds a Bmus degree from the Jerusalem Music academy for Music and Dance and an MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Art from Brooklyn College.

He is the author of the self-produced poetry booklet ‘Ebodd’ (2009) and the co-editor of the poetry fanzine ‘KETA’ in collaboration with Inbar Itzcovitz (2008-2011)

Contact: Chanan.ben.simon@gmail.com

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