Simon Starr is a musical monk who has toured, recorded and performed with many of Australia's most respected artists for over 30 years, crossing over in to all styles owing to his deep love of all music and grooves.. An accomplished composer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, Starr has featured on over 90 recordings including 15 that he has produced for other artists. From 2009-2015 he lived in Israel with his family, exploring as many facets of Jewish music as possible.
While in Israel, Starr created the children's music theatre piece Yoel Amar with collaborator Ronit Kano, which became a cult hit and performed to sold out venues around Israel. Yoel Amar became the most awarded production of 2014/15, winning every major theatrical prize in Israel including Show of the Year at the annual National Theatre Awards.
Since returning to Australia in 2016, he has been working non-stop on original projects such as YID! (WOMAD 2018,2022) and Y-POP, the Yohai Cohen Quintet (WOMAD 2019), Deborah Conway, Lior (EP of songs written in Hebrew dropping in 2024).
For the rest of 2024, Simon will continue as MD/Producer with singer Jemma Cher, producing recordings for other artists both here and in Israel and writing and recording his 4th solo album, as well as completing a screenplay and separate theatrical piece based on the Benia Krik tales of Isaac Babel.
Starr teaches double and electric bass, guitar, trumpet and various ensembles at Monash University, and the King David School.
