Nana Simopoulos

Composer | Multi-Instrumentalist

Nana Simopoulos is a composer whose work is defined by its melodic elegance, emotional depth, and a unique ability to weave global instrumental textures and rhythms into a sophisticated orchestral language. Across a career spanning four decades, she has remained dedicated to a tonal and lyrical approach, creating music that is both structurally rich and deeply resonant.

Current Direction: The Orchestral Voice & Immersive Art

Nana’s 2026 season marks a major milestone in her evolution as a symphonic storyteller. At the heart of this work is an upcoming album of original orchestral music, a collection that prioritizes melody and harmonic warmth. This creative focus is brought to life through her work with the Nostos Youth Orchestra, where she leads the ensemble in performances of her own original scores across Greece and Italy—bridging the gap between classical heritage and modern expression.

Her recent work in the world of immersive media further explores the intersection of sound and visual storytelling. She composed the evocative scores for Perennial Land at the Morris Museum—a site-specific installation by Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger. In this collaboration, Nana’s music acts as the emotional anchor, providing a human, melodic pulse to the digital landscape.

A Heritage of Fusion and Global Leadership

Nana’s ability to lead large-scale, multicultural ensembles was memorably showcased at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where she conducted 40 musicians from Tibet, India, Turkey, Africa, Israel, and Greece in her original composition, I Will Remember You. Her reputation for artfully blending diverse global sounds into a cohesive musical narrative was further established with her 1984 debut, Pandora’s Blues, featuring jazz icons Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins winning Downbeat Magazine’s critics choice.

She continued to evolve this sound with two acclaimed releases on Germany’s Enja Records: Wings and Air and Still Waters. A long-standing collaboration with the late Indian sarangi master Ustad Sultan Khan resulted in the #1 radio-charting Daughters of the Sun and the 2016 release Skins, which set the mystic poetry of Rumi and Hafez to rich, melodic arrangements featuring Dave Liebman.

Performance & Commissions for the Stage

As a performer, Nana has graced the world’s most prestigious stages, including the Lincoln Center in New York City and the Montreux Music Festival, where she appeared with her ensemble and was featured on their Live at the B&W Montreux Music Festival compilation. She also appeared as a sitar soloist for Oscar winner Tan Dun in Marco Polo with the New York City Opera.

Her versatile career as a composer for dance includes numerous commissions for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, and the American Dance Festival. She has also written scores for films and theatrical productions, including the Off-Broadway hit American Dreams, Lost and Found. Throughout her prolific career, and as a member of the School of Visual Arts faculty since 1993, Nana remains dedicated to music that speaks directly to the listener through the enduring power of melody.