Conductor Simone Menezes has shown a strong commitment to contemporary music and cross-genre projects. At age 20, Menezes created the Symphonic Orchestra of Campinas-Unicamp. In 2013, she formed the Camerata Latino Americana, which specialized in Latin American repertory. In 2014, Menezes began an ongoing association conductor with Paavo Järvi, serving as his assistant. She and pianist Sonia Rubinsky founded the Villa-Lobos Project in 2014. In 2019, she guest conducted the Osaka Symphony in Japan and that year, she formed Ensemble K. With that group, Menezes released her debut album, Metanoia. In 2023, she released the album Amazônia: Villa-Lobos, Glass, leading the Philharmonia Zürich.