she contains multitudes

electronic press kit, 2026

about She Contains Multitudes:

She Contains Multitudes is an adaptable 45 - 60 minute concert featuring Hayley Thompson-King (voice) and Arthur Simoes (piano) with occasional special guests. This concert is inspired by early 20th century cabaret in France and Germany, and the simultaneous emergence of American blues and jazz in popular culture. She Contains Multitudes is our way of exploring the interconnectedness of music across nations, and the impact of refuge on American musical culture. It includes original arrangements and variations on music by composers such as Kurt Weill, Arnold Schoenberg, and Francis Poulenc, alongside early American blues and jazz made popular by artists like Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters.

Hayley Thompson-King, voice

“A voice that could do anything doing just what it wants,” declares Americana UK. Hayley Thompson-King is recognizable for her “gritty operatic belt and intellectual curiosity that culminates both musically and lyrically” (PopMatters). As a collaborator, she has recorded and toured with psychedelic 6-piece Major Stars (2011 – 2015), The Upper Crust, saxophonist Zishi Liu, and is most recently featured on alt-jazz guitarist Eric Hofbauer double album Tongues / Hope Language. As a solo artist, her debut album, Psychotic Melancholia, was praised by Paste Magazine as “a positively jaw-dropping exposition that celebrates the entire canon of rock ‘n’ roll’s energy, and should be considered an upping of the ante on the gritty sonic real estate of garage, punk, country, and Americana, into some amalgam altogether more apt of Thompson-King’s wondrous artistic aptitudes.” Her follow up 2020 album, Sororicide - produced by Sean Slade (Radiohead, Hole) – is “a wild stylistic ride,” according to Billboard. Hayley’s music has been heard from NPR to Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country and Underground Garage stations to films such as Diary of a Teenage Girl. In her latest project, She Contains Multitudes, Hayley and pianist Arthur Simoes present a cabaret-style live performance including music by composers such as Kurt Weill, Arnold Schoenberg, and Francis Poulenc, alongside early American blues and jazz made popular by artists like Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters. Hayley is an Associate Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music and a Teaching Artist in Jazz and Contemporary Music at Longy School of Music of Bard College - she specializes in vocal distortion and improvisation. 

Arthur Simoes, piano

 A performer, composer, and educator, Arthur’s music is influenced by an eclectic mix of genres, including jazz, classical, video game music, and his Brazilian heritage. Arthur has performed extensively across Europe, Latin America, and the United States, and frequently presents lectures, workshops, and masterclasses worldwide. In addition to his private studio, Arthur currently teaches Dalcroze at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA, and has served on the faculties of the Haute École de Musique and the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva, Switzerland. He has been a guest teacher at various events and institutions, including the Dalcroze International Congress (Switzerland), Encontro Internacional sobre Pedagogia do Piano (Brazil), Longy School of Music (USA), Tufts University (USA), and NEOJIBA (Brazil). Arthur is the first prize winner of the 29th European Music Competition "Città di Moncalieri" in Italy, among other piano competitions. He has appeared at renowned venues and festivals around the world, including Victoria Hall (Geneva), La Schubertiade sur la Colline (Neuchâtel), and the Berklee Performance Center (Boston). Arthur attended Berklee College of Music for a Diploma with concentrations in Jazz Composition and Performance. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Piano and a Master’s degree in Music Pedagogy with a concentration in Dalcroze Eurhythmics, as well as the Diplôme Supérieur of the Dalcroze method. During his Dalcroze studies, Arthur was awarded the Institut-Jaques Dalcroze Award “for his qualities as eurhythmician”, the Emile Jaques-Dalcroze Foundation Award “for the excellence of his improvisation exam” and the Aletheia Foundation Award “for the excellence of his Diplôme Supérieur choreography”.