Simon Knighton is a composer and sound artist from Sheffield. He is an associate composer with Nonclassical and recently completed a PhD at the Royal Northern College of Music under the supervision of Larry Goves and Emily Howard. His Sound Sculpture No. 7 was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the Best Orchestral Piece category in 2023. Sound Sculpture No. 5 won the 2023 Royal Musical Association Tippett Medal. His debut album was released through Nonclassical in 2024. 

Simon’s ongoing Sound Sculpture series investigates the evolving meaning of the term “sound sculpture,” integrating spatialisation, material physicality, and both human and non-human system-based emergent processes. He enjoys working in close collaboration with performers (inviting them into the composition process wherever possible) and often develops bespoke collaborative methods for each project he undertakes. 

Simon has composed concert music for ensembles such as Southbank Sinfonia, Riot Ensemble, Nieuw Ensemble, Ricciotti Ensemble, House of Bedlam, the Dutch National Youth Fanfare Orchestra, CoMA Manchester, Score Collective, Psappha, Camerata Temporalis, the CvA Symphony Orchestra, and the I Solisti Wind Ensemble. His music has been performed in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, and Cuba. Recordings of his work have been released on Nonclassical and broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 6. 

Simon is also a keen educator and has delivered talks/workshops for organisations such as the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership (OOC DTP) at Oxford University, Trinity Laban Conservatoire and Leeds Conservatoire. He has given conference talks at the University of Greenwich and Birmingham Conservatoire. He has delivered composition courses for Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival/Riot Ensemble and Music in the Round.

He also works as an autism support assistant with L’Arche Manchester.