Simon was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and has played music since the age of six. He has been recording and writing music since he was about fourteen.
A multi-instrumentalist; he plays piano, tuned and untuned percussion, timpani, drum kit – plus a little self taught guitar!
He attended Chethams School of Music, then won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2000 Simon became one of only five Gold Medal winners of the Shell / LSO Scholarship for Timpani and Percussion. In 2009 he was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
He has performed for 20 years at the highest level, beginning with the London Symphony Orchestra at the age of 20. Since 2003 he has been Section Principal Percussion of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO).
Simon has freelanced with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Halle, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the World Orchestra for Peace. He has toured globally, performing in halls such as the Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the the Berlin Philharmonie.
He has performed as concerto soloist (in the UK and the USA) and as a member of a wide range of chamber groups (including at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall). He was a key member of the RSNO’s improvisation group Alchemy.
Beyond the classical repertoire, Simon has shared a stage with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, Nile Rogers, Midge Ure, Texas, Belle & Sebastian, Elvis Costello, Danny Elfman and Michael Kamen.
He has played in big bands and jazz ensembles (at venues including Bridgewater Hall and the Usher Hall), as well as for musicals.
He has performed live film scores in concert and recorded on film soundtracks, most recently Paul Leonard Morgan’s score for Gigi & Nate and Terence Blanchard’s for The Woman King. He has appeared as a soloist, or as principal percussion on over 130 album recordings.
From 2019-2020 Simon studied for a Masters in Sound for the Moving Image at Glasgow School of Art; learning the skills of sound design, production, editing, mixing, post-production, as well as immersive audio techniques such as Dolby Atmos.
Simon has composed and orchestrated music for a wide variety of media, including a piece written for the RSNO Brass Ensemble. In 2020 he took part in a composer mentoring scheme run by Manners McDade. His mentor was German composer Christoph Zirngibl.
During the RSNO’s 2020:21 digital season, Simon took on the role of Score Reader / Script Supervisor with the video team.
And in 2021, he became a Trainee Producer with the team at Scotland’s Studio – being mentored by RSNO Digital Manager Hedd Morfett-Jones and Philip Hobbs of Linn Records.
If you’d like to contact Simon please click here.