Simon Standage is well known as a violinist specialising in 17th and 18th-century music. Leader and soloist with The English Concert from its foundation until 1990, he also fulfilled the same role for many years with the City of London Sinfonia.  As well as the many records he made with The English Concert (including Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, nominated for a Grammy award), he also recorded solo and chamber music, including all of Mozart's violin concertos with the Academy of Ancient Music, of which he was, with Christopher Hogwood, Associate Director from 1991 to 1995.

Since his founding with Richard Hickox of Collegium Musicum 90, he has made numerous recordings for Chandos Records. As a soloist and director of chamber orchestras and chamber musicians, he is active both in Britain and abroad. He had for some years a regular collaboration with Haydn Sinfonietta in Vienna. He is the leader of the Salomon String Quartet (founded by him in 1981), which specialises in the historical performance of Classical repertoire. He is a Professor of Baroque Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and teaches summer courses in Europe.

He received a medal for services to Polish culture in 2008, was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music in 2009, and in 2010 received the Georg Philipp Telemann Prize from the city of Magdeburg.