Jade Simmons, Piano

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New Music/New Places Fellow

The charismatic pianist Jade Simmons, Concert Artists Guild’s inaugural New Music/New Places Fellow, is a performer for the 21st Century. She possesses artistry, passion and creativity, infusing every project with her unique brand of communicative powers.

As a New Music/New Places Fellow Jade has the opportunity to create innovative projects and present them in a variety of venues. Her program Kandinsky and Scriabin: Hearing Color, Seeing Sound (available in the 2008-09 season) focuses on links between the creative arts, and The Rhythm Project is an exploration of percussive piano playing. In 2007-08 she brings The Rhythm Project to Symphony Space’s Thalia Theatre as part of the CAG/New Works Series and to the Gatehouse at Harlem Stage in a program specifically designed for students.

Also in 2007-08, Ms. Simmons appears at Ravinia’s Rising Stars Series and the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, in residencies at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (NY) and Oakwood College (AL) and at Chicago’s Symphony Hall for concerto engagement with the Chicago Sinfonietta performing Tania León’s Kabiosile. Recent engagements include her debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra performing the Corigliano Piano Concerto under the baton of Leslie Dunner and recitals at Symphony Space and Aaron Davis Hall. In 2005, her performance with renowned pianist Ursula Oppens of duo piano works by Tania León was listed as one of the Year’s Best Concerts by ARTFORUM magazine.

Jade is passionate about the role of the arts in education and created Mozart on the Move, a program that was used with great success in the Houston public school system. In spring 2007, she continued her educational activities under the auspices of the Van Cliburn Foundation’s “Musical Awakenings” series, visiting twenty schools throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area in a program entitled Virtuosity.

An artist with a social conscience that moves her to action, Jade serves as an advocate for America’s youth, addressing groups across the country on sensitive issues such as suicide prevention and youth violence. She is the founder of the national school program Where Do You Stand?! – a series of interactive presentations on topics from culture to the political climate which has led to numerous appearances on radio and television.

Jade Simmons is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. As an undergraduate at Northwestern University, she co-founded the immensely popular percussion and dance ensemble Boomshaka! Jade was Miss Illinois and first runner up at the 2000 Miss America Pageant where she performed Chopin’s Etude in c-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4, before a live television audience of millions. She holds a Master’s degree from Rice University, having studied with Jon Kimura Parker, and more recently studied at the Foundation Bell’ Arte in Brussels. She designs her own concert attire and plans to expand these successful fashion efforts into an extended commercial line called Zhedya (Jade in Russian).