Romanian born violinist Irina Simon-Renes studied in Berlin with Thomas Zehetmair, Christoph Poppen and Antje Weithaas.

Her career as an orchestra musician began in 1998 at the Academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin. Afterwards she accepted her first position as principal second violin with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. From 2001 until 2010 she held the same position with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich. She is currently leading the second violins of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.

Since 2010 she has been Artistic Director of the International Chamber Music Festival Wassenaar. In 2012 she received the first Wassenaar Culture Prize in recognition of her efforts in music education.

She regularly plays as a guest leader and guest principal with orchestras such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Romanian Chamber Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In 2013 she became a member of the prestigious Lucerne Festival Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Along with Lisa Batiashvili, Francois Leleux & Friends she performed in 2014 at the famous Prinsengracht concert in Amsterdam. In 2020 she was awarded as Knight of the Order of Arts by the President of Romania.
In 2020 she was awarded as Knight of the Order of Arts by the President of Romania.

Irina Simon-Renes plays a Nicolo Gagliano violin from 1768.