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Philip Herbert Composer, performer and educator

Tell us a little about yourself. I have an eclectic interest in creativity and as a result have maintained a portfolio career, as a performing musician, who has been known to perform on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, or as a composer, responding to commissions plus having my score Elegy performed on tour across the USA by the Sphinx Virtuosi. I also write for publication, and have recently contributed an essay to a book published by Serendipity UK entitled Reflections: Cultural Voices of Black British Irrepressible Resilience. This year, in January, I enjoyed the privilege of Elegy being released on the Chineke! orchestra’s album Spark Catchers, among the wonderful pieces by fellow composers on this new recording on the NMC Recording Label. I have also contributed to a BBC Radio 4 programme presented by the jazz pianist/composer Julian Joseph called The Trumpet Shall Sound, which explored the contribution black composers have made to classical music across a historical timeline. Earlier this year, I was invited as a visiting lecturer to deliver a workshop, at Norwich University of the Arts, for students on the MA in Music for Moving Image. The rapid unravelling of events in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on the livelihoods of musicians. Consequently, there are a number of projects that have had to be suspended, as well as some that will be completed in the near future, as safer ways of working are developed. One of those projects is contributing a number of pieces to an album of production music for EMI, Sparkle and Burn. Recently, I have been invited to write a piece for BBC Radio 3’s Composer Postcards.

Who (or what) has most influenced you and your career? I’d say it is the impact of personalities within my environment. It’s also a combination of listening to an eclectic record collection which my parents owned, that afforded the opportunity to hear music by JS Bach, Handel and Grieg, as well as Gospel music with blues influences, and Psalms orated by the late Theodore Bikel with orchestral accompaniment, to name a few. My late mother supervised my practice sessions at the piano to begin with, while my father taught me to read music, along with taking us to hear live music, such as Handel’s Messiah. During primary school, I remember being taken to hear solo recitals at Leeds Art Gallery, and afterwards being a part of a select group who went backstage to meet the artist. High School years presented plenty of opportunities to develop as a pianist and flautist and join in with extra-curricular music and drama activities. I recall hearing the Lindsay String Quartet and the pianist Radu Lupu, among others, and there was an opportunity to discuss the workings of Opera North when Lord Harwood was invited to a sixth form society meeting. I was able to look inside the grand piano as Mr Lupton delivered a fiery account of Chopin’s Revolutionary Study during a music lesson. These were inspirational chapters, before more formal study of music education at King Alfred’s College, Winchester, (now known as University of Winchester), gaining piano performing and teaching diplomas from the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music respectively, and later postgraduate study at Andrews University, Michigan, USA.

What would you say is your greatest achievement to date? I enjoyed working on a project called Ballare: To Dance that was commissioned for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the East Midlands. It was a great opportunity to explore the impact of the universal power of music, that was ultimately enjoyed by a very culturally diverse audience in Leeds, Nottingham and Leicester. The project took the audience on a musical journey across the African diaspora, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Spain and India, through sound worlds that are associated with these countries. Within this project, I wrote two new works, including a suite for solo steel pan and strings and a piece called Mantra for an Athlete. Who is your all-time favourite artist and why? Wynton Marsalis is one of my favourite artists, because of his eclectic interest in a variety of musical genres, including classical music and jazz. His passion and concern that music education is available for the next generation is also an impressive credential. Whatever he embraces, he always delivers to a very high level, and when he performs, he enjoys it and makes it appear to be done so effortlessly.

What was the last CD or music download that you purchased? Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s performance of Après un rêve by Gabriel Fauré.

What are your plans for the future? To deliver the composition projects that it is within my power to complete. Wait and see how government guidelines impact decisions for safer working practices for work that I have completed which needs to be recorded.

Finally, what is your ISM membership to you? My ISM membership provides me with support, is inclusive in outlook, gives guidance, and provides me with up-todate information on practical matters from experts in relevant fields, relating to being a musician in the 21st century.

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