Simon has thirty years of experience as a musician. For many years a professional violinist working at the top of his field, also a distinguished composer and the world’s leading expert on Elgar.

Having started learning the violin at the age of ten, by nineteen Simon was representing the UK at international competition senior level, and at twenty-two he performed Richard Strauss's "Ein Heldenleben" at London's Barbican Hall. Having won a scholarship to study at Wells Cathedral School, Simon continued his studies at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, during which time he won a scholarship to study on the Solo Violin Master Class course at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Study. On graduating, Simon joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for three years, after which he appeared as guest principal with many of the UK's leading chamber and symphony orchestras.

The music of Edward Elgar has held a fascination for Simon since his late teens, and his extensive and continued research in this area marks him out as a rapidly emerging authority in the field. Simon has conducted many of his own orchestrations and arrangements of Elgar's music. His advice has been sought on style and interpretation by many artists preparing to commit Elgar's music to disc, and he has provided programme and inlay notes for performances and recordings of Elgar's music. Simon has accepted invitations from the Elgar Foundation, the Elgar Birthplace Museum, and many branches of the Elgar Society, to whom he has delivered illustrated talks. He has also given presentations to Westminster Music Library, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Battle Festival, on behalf of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and for various societies and choirs. Simon has made significant contributions to radio programmes on Elgar for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He is currently completing a book on Elgar's 'Enigma Variations', a subject he has been researching for over thirty years. Publication is imminent, and his thoughts on the subject are soon to be aired – for the first time since the work was produced in 1899, the world will at last have a comprehensive solution to Elgar's musical mystery.

-Elgar’s Music for Strings

-Elgar and the Great War: ‘A composer’s road to silence’

-Elgar in performance: ‘A view from the stage’

-Elgar’s String Writing

-Alice Elgar: ‘Guardian of a Genius’

-An exploration of Elgar’s music for violin & piano’

-The Dream of Gerontius

-Elgar, Sussex & the First World War

-Elgar & Billy Reed

*each lecture is approximately 2-2.5 hours duration including interval.

After a gap of thirty years of compositional silence, Simon returned to writing in 2023 with the production of his Concerto for Violin & Clarinet, "Rayon de Soleil". In the first eighteen months of his return to writing music, Simon received five world premieres, proving his immediacy of appeal as a compositional communicator. He is currently working on four new works, including a Sonata for Cello & Piano for the Buckingham Music Festival in July 2026. His music is being recorded for release in 2026. In its first year, Simon's 'Soliloquy' for four cellos received seven performances and two recordings, the second for Somm Records.

If Shaun had a leitmotif, it would be an unwavering commitment to helping audiences discover something emotive and transformative in all forms of classical music.

As long-standing Musical Director of the Scarborough Symphony Orchestra, he is a dedicated advocate for underrepresented composers, regularly championing the works of William Grant Still, Shirley J. Thompson, and Andrzej Panufnik.

Shaun is a regular guest conductor with some of the UK’s leading orchestras, including Chineke! Orchestra—most recently as part of Grace Jones’ Meltdown Festival concert—the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He also collaborates frequently with distinguished concerto soloists such as Tai Murray, Jamie Walton, and Jess Gillam.

Shaped by his Caribbean heritage and upbringing in East London, Shaun is a passionate and outspoken advocate for arts education. He consistently curates outreach concerts for school-aged audiences across the UK and recently worked with Chineke! Junior Orchestra and the Trinity Laban Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra on a performance of Holst’s The Planets.