Simone Ducloux, a native Austinite, grew up in a very musical family, with an impeccable musical pedigree as the granddaughter of former UT-opera professor and Austin Lyric Opera founder/director, Walter Ducloux.  Simone has been a devoted pianist and musician since the age of 7.  She began competing in piano competitions at age nine.  During high school, she won first place every year in the annual Austin Music Teacher’s piano competition, and was named “Outstanding Performer” in Annual U.I.L. State Competitions in her Freshman, Junior and Senior Years.  In 1999, she performed the Grieg piano concerto in A-minor with the Austin Civic Orchestra.  She also spent that summer at the Interlochen, Michigan, international fine-arts conservatory, where she studied piano with Steven Perry. 

As a scholarship student of Nancy Garrett, Simone earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently working on her last year of the Masters program at UT.  She has also had the privilege of studying piano with David Renner, Timothy Woolsey, and Anton Nel.  She has studied piano pedagogy at UT under the instruction of Sophia Gilmson since 2003, where she taught (and will continue teaching) in the UT Piano Project.  Simone believes that teaching music to others is the most important element in the development of one’s own growth as a musician, artist, and performer.  “I want to provide students with the tools to teach themselves new things every day.” She is committed to providing students with a firm understanding of music theory from the beginning of their studies.  “I want my students to have a deeper understanding of what’s going on in their favorite part of a piece.” She is also highly committed to helping students realize the healthiest technical skills that they can personally achieve, so that they can express their musical ideas with as much freedom and ease as possible.