Simon Morris has stepped down as Co-Managing Director.

Simon started his career as a professional cellist, becoming the co-principal of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra upon leaving the Royal College of Music. He subsequently played for ten years under the directorship of Sir Neville Marriner with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields; more recently he has served there as a trustee.

During his 22 years at J & A Beare, Simon worked with his then co-director, Steven Smith, to sell more than sixty instruments by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, as well as many other outstanding instruments, such as the Pietro Guarneri cello to Mstislav Rostropovich, the ‘Gibson, Huberman’ Stradivari violin to Joshua Bell and the fine violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini now played by Julia Fischer.

Simon is regularly invited as an expert commentator, appearing on the BBC, CNBC, Classic FM; he has also contributed to The Financial Times, The Independent and The New York Times. Simon has also written articles for The STRAD magazine and penned contributions to the four-volume work “Antonius Stradivarius”. Together with Steven Smith, Simon has been one of the main contributors to “An Introduction to Old Italian Violins” by Beares Publishing.