I am Simone van der Weerden, a bandoneon player living in Rotterdam. I often get the question, how does a Dutch girl coming from a little town in Brabant end up devoting her life to this very uncommon instrument? That’s a question with an easy answer: I got struck by the amazing sound and passion of tango music and didn’t want to do anything else. So I ended up studying at the tango department of the Codarts conservatory, I even became ‘world champion’ in the category solo bandoneon of an international accordion competition and moved to Argentina.

Tango was all I did. Until I wanted to go even further. I thought why should the bandoneon stay only in tango!? My love for jazz was alway there but became stronger and I wanted to do this. I wanted to see if I could combine these worlds and create something different. So I started a master studies where I studied only with jazz teachers, which caused quite some confusion and resistance but I knew I had to follow my own path.

In the end I created my own band that consists of three great jazz musicians and myself called NAOS quartet. A new band, new sound, new repertoire. My goal with this band is to put the bandoneon more out there, change the context of the instrument and let the instrument be heard by many more people who will love the sound too!

The journey continues and the musical possibilities are endless!!!