Simon is one of the most sought after directors and teachers in the North-West. He was brought up on the South Coast as a chorister, pianist, trumpeter and organist. He studied the organ with Alan Thurlow at Chichester Cathedral and the trumpet with Crispian Steele-Perkins in London before moving to Sheffield University where he conducted various choirs and orchestras during his degree. He studied with Graham Matthews at Sheffield Cathedral and with Dame Gillian Weir and Ronald Frost at the RNCM.
His 25-year school teaching career culminated as Director of Music at The King’s School in Macclesfield. During this time, he conducted numerous choirs in Cheshire, continued to play the organ to the highest level, joined the staff at Junior RNCM in 1991 and was an ABRSM Examiner from 2002 to 2024.
Since turning Freelance in 2014, Simon has travelled to Singapore, Hong Kong and around the UK as an Examiner and Adjudicator. He was the Founding Director of the Hallé Choral Academy and Musical Director of the RNCM Symphony Chorus. He is a Visiting Music Teacher at The Manchester Grammar School, Stockport Grammar and Greenbank Preparatory Schools. He was appointed to the Accredited Teachers team of the Royal College of Organists in 2015. Simon joined Hayfield Singers as Musical Director in 2017.
Simon is a regular tutor for the RCO Summer Course and is a member of the Teaching Faculty of The Chetham’s Internation Piano School. His pupils have held Organ Scholarships at numerous Oxford and Cambridge Colleges, Conservatoires and Cathedrals. He made his debut with High Peak Orchestra in the Spring of 2025 and is very much looking forward to working with them in the Summer of 2026.