Wonder Woman of the Week: Simonne Jones

Anyone that knows this author can agree that I am a master at multitasking. I moderate both online and tabletop role playing games, write ethnographies, make jewelry, coach fencing, and work with teenagers- and that’s only half of what I do. That’s why when I say this week’s spotlight puts my multitasking game to shame, that claim should carry some serious weight. This week’s spotlight is a singer, songwriter, fashion model, physicist, painter, inventor, and coder. Known primarily for her music, this week’s spotlight blends the sounds of scientific instruments with the pop melodies. Her success has made a name for her among dozens of communities from music magazines to scientific journals. The Wonder Woman of the Week is Simonne Jones.

Superhuman Simonne Jones hails from California and began playing music at three years old. After seven years of playing piano, Jones was already composing piano music by the age of ten. Jones stated in an interview about her musical youth, “The idea that you can create this invisible thing that didn’t exist before in the form of music really haunted me as a child. I thought of it as a powerful way to shape my universe.” [1]

Musical prodigy Simonne Jones continued to add instruments to her repertoire as she grew up and even experimented with instruments of her own inventions. The process evolved in college where at the University of Maryland, Jones dedicated her time to engineering her sound. She graduated with degrees in visual arts and biomedical research. During this time, Jones dabbled in fashion modeling and painting receiving praise in both fields including an art gallery in Florence, Italy in 2006. [2]

After graduating from college, Simonne Jones’ multitasking skills evolved even further. Simonne Jones’ scientific career specializes in HIV research and nuclear magnetic resonance. In her down time, Jones reads articles about news in the physics and neuroscience communities- two subjects that greatly influence her music. [3] Her music plays off of a diverse collection of influences. An early love for the classics, Jones reported in an interview with journalist Dianca Potts that Chopin’s “Prelude Op. 28 No. 15” was a major inspiration for her music. Jones also grew to love more modern experimental musicians like Bjork and Peaches whose influences can clearly be heard in Jones’ music. [4]

Simonne Jones is an award winning singer, songwriter, inventor, biomedical researcher, and painter. Her work has taken her across the world researching HIV in Africa, displaying her artwork Europe, and performing her music on multiple continents. Best of all, Jones combines all of her personalities to create works of art that provide enjoyable nods to historic members of the scientific community and that empower women to enter fields of art, science, and medicine.

“Simonne Jones: Musician & Engineer.” I’m A Girl Who Codes. np, June 2016. Web. 12 October 2016.

“Simonne Jones.” Last.fm. CBS Interactive, nd. Web. 12 October 2016.

Mandelbaum, Ryan F. “Singer Simonne Jones Fuses Pop Music and Quantum Physics.” Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation, 27 May 2016. Web. 12 October 2016.

Potts, Dianca. “Music Monday: The Science and Magic of Simonne Jones.” Lenny. Hearst Digital Media, 18 April 2016. Web. 12 October 2016.