Percussionist Simona Abdallah was born 1979 in Germany, where her Palestinian parents escaped to from Lebanon. Later on the family moved to Denmark, where Simona spend her childhood in Denmark’s second largest city, the windy port town of Aarhus.
Simona plays Arabic percussion, primarily the Darbuka, a goblet-shaped drum. She fuses her ancestral Arabic rhythms with House, Electronica and World music.
The Darbouka is considered solely a masculine instrument, and is traditionally always played by men. That makes Simona the first female musician from an Arabic background to break the tradition with an internationally acclaimed success to follow.
Simona had to teach herself to play the percussion and has been playing since she was 15 years old. Because of her chosen instrument, she was often challenged, both in her choices and the pursuit of her career. Simona never lost sight of what she wanted and strongly believes in following your dreams and staying positive – even if the going sometimes gets tough.
Now Simona Abdallah is an internationally booked artist and has been touring the Netherlands, UK, Scandinavia and gigging in Cairo, Croatia, France and San Francisco. She has worked with and supported acclaimed artists like Natacha Atlas, CHEB KHALED, Tamer Hosny, DJ Said Mrad, Middle East Peace Orchestra, Donna Cadogan, MAKADEM, Efterklang, DJ Mike Sheridan, Band Ane, Lis Sørensen, Aura Dione, Casper Christensen & Frank Hvam, Jenny Wilson, Anisette, DR Symphony Orchestra, Oriental Tahkt, and Danish rocklegends, SORT SOL.