Simon Johnson, Co-Chairman

Simon’s interest in H&H began as an 11-year old chorister at Peterborough Cathedral. When he visited the workshop at Hawthorn Terrace in 1987 and enquired about how to acquire an H&H organ, one of the employees remarked that the best way would be to marry the boss’s daughter.  He duly wedded Laura (who works on the H&H London tuning round) in 2009 and, although the longed-for organ has yet to materialise, two children, both musicians, have.

Whilst waiting for these stars to align, Simon developed a career as one of the most outstanding organists of his generation.

Following thirteen years as Organist and Assistant Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral, he took up the post of Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in September 2021.  There he is responsible for the world-famous choir, which occupies a unique and enviable position at the forefront of English Church Music, and remains the only Catholic Cathedral choir in the world to sing daily Mass and Vespers.

Described by Gramophone magazine as “A brilliant and sensitive musician”, Simon has an active recital schedule that takes him regularly to the USA and to many of the great venues in Europe, including a Royal Festival Hall debut in 2017.  He has performed with groups such as the LSO, RPO, City of London Sinfonia, and The Sixteen, recorded for Decca, Hyperion and Chandos, been published by OUP and Peters, collaborated with NASA and the International Space Station, and also worked on the Oscar-winning soundtrack for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Simon joined the H&H Board in 2021 and became Co-Chairman in 2023.