Philip Herbert

Philip Herbert was born 1960 in London (UK) and is an award winning British Composer with eclectic musical interests. He has written choral music, chamber music, music for film, dance and for the concert hall. 

Philip has developed a portfolio career, combining teaching, performance, curation, writing for publication, developing and devising workshops and projects, Assessing Music projects for the Arts Council of England, Broadcasting and Composing. 

Philip has taught at secondary and university levels, as well as collaborated with some of Britain’s finest musicians in the creation of workshops, projects and residencies for young people and people of all ages and abilities. 

He has a keen interest in the historical contributions which Black Composers have contributed to classical music and has conducted research trips to University Departments and archives in the USA in search of books, documentation, scores and recordings, along with key information from archivists, which explains the significance of the works which have been found in the archives. This experience has informed his contributions to interview segments he has been invited to contribute to Classics Unwrapped for BBC Radio Scotland presented by Jamie Mc Dougall, The Trumpet Shall Sound for BBC Radio 4 presented by Julian Joseph OBE British jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and broadcaster, In Tune with Suzy Klein talking about his London 2012 Project ‘Ballare: To Dance’ that featured musical influences from around the world and also Sean Rafferty, talking about the project ‘Lost Chords: Unsung Songs’ featuring music from the Harlem Renaissance - which was toured across the UK, finishing in the Purcell Room at the SouthBank Centre.  

Philip was invited to write music for the film ‘The Future’ by the Italian Film Director, Enrico Poli. The film was awarded first prize in the film festival Visione Italiane, in the category, Visione Acquatische. 

Philip’s music has been performed by a variety of ensembles including the BBC Singers, Alasdair Malloy (Principal Percussionist of the BBC Concert Orchestra), London Mozart Players, Sinfonia ViVA, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the Philharmonia, Orchestra of the Swan, Detroit, Houston, American Youth Philharmonic, Colorado University Philharmonia, Capital Philharmonic new Jersey, Minnesota, Nashville Orchestras , Orchestra of Northern New York,  the charlotte Symphony Orchestra North Carolina USA, the Villier’s Quartet in residence at University of Oxford and a String Quartet at the LSO to name a few.

Philip has recently completed a commission from Serendipity UK which celebrates the Windrush Generation: in the form of a string quartet as a dance score in four movements, entitled ‘Siren Calls: to an illusive journey,’ which was choreographed with different creative perspectives by Monique Jonas and Thomas Prestø in different venues, on separate dates within the Let’s Dance International Festival. In addition he has also recently completed a commission from the BBC Concert Orchestra to write a piece for the PRS Foundation and Southbank Centre New Music Biennial 2022, called ‘Towards Renewal,’ which was premiered in Coventry Cathedral and performed again at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London, UK, on 2 July 2022. In June, Philip was invited by Dr Anthony Anderson (Music Education Researcher) to deliver a seminar for the Birmingham Music Education Research Group, covering the theme, Curating accessible cultural diversity in classical music in creative school curricula.

Philip is currently, working on a new commission for the Spitalfields Festival 2023.