Ben Simone

Chanan Ben Simon is a vocalist, composer and a multimedia artist, born in Jerusalem, Israel to parents of Jewish Moroccan 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 NEMAF festival in Seoul, Korea. The ongoing collaboration also includes ‘Dino Show’ (2018), presented in the Bellwether Gallery, NY and the EMAF festival in Korea and `Dream Data’ (2019) created at ‘Andy’s Playhouse’, 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. These days, Ben Simone is releasing his second LP, ‘Party Tears’, after already performing it in Israel, Taiwan and New York.

Chanan got to the public awareness in Israel back in 2012, when he reached the finals of the TV singing competition ‘The Voice’.
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.