Simon’s first musical passion is the music of the Highland bagpipes, and is a major prize-winner within this field as well as the current President of the Competing Pipers Association (CPA). Notable wins include the Dunvegan Medal (2004), Skye Clasp (2005), 2nd Gold medal Oban (2005), 3rd in A-grade March, Strathspey and Reel at Inverness (2005), 1st A-grade Piobaireachd Inverary (2005), and the Peter McFarquar Star for Strathspey and Reel playing (Skye 2004).

His album credits include two albums with the group Back of the Moon, Jim Malcolm’s Home and Tam O’Shanter recordings, Highland Games, and Blair Douglas’s latest solo album, Angel from the Ashes. Other artists have recorded his compositions and he continues to compose in the traditional idiom. Simon has toured around the world performing and teaching and has played on BBC radio a number of times.

Simon was awarded the PhD (Ethnomusicology) in 2005 for a thesis entitled:

‘Scottish competition bagpipe music: sound, mode and aesthetics’. He continues his research and is particularly interested in the relationship between motivic usage and performance aesthetics in traditional musics. He is grateful for the numerous academic scholarships/grants that allowed him to complete his studies which included a Musicians Benevolent Fund Education Award 2002 and 2003; the Harriet Cohen foundation; the John Mather Scholarship; The St. Andrews Society of Washington scholarship and the RSAMD Trust amongst others.

Simon regularly plays Uilleann and Border pipes in a duo with the expert guitarist Tom Richardson. They concentrate on performing their own compositions and are in demand as performers throughout Scotland. He has been involved in numerous new compositions by well-known Scottish composers, working in traditional and traditional/classical fusions with for example, Brian McNeill, Fred Morrison, Mark Sheridan. He has also been involved in traditional/ jazz fusions with John Rae (Off Kilter) on several occasions and the International Unusual Suspects. Simon has performed regularly with orchestras including the RSNO, The Scottish Opera Orchestra and The Performing Arts Orchestra of England.

Simon has appeared as a performer on the following commercially released albums: