Simon James Phillips
Composer / Pianist
Simon James Phillips is a musician whose creative approach activates alternative processes broadening the relational connections between musics, participants, heritages, and practises. He utilises transdisciplinary methodologies of collaboration and adaptation to question dominant approaches to artistic creation.
︎ Tania Kelly
“Uncompromising assertiveness”
- The Sydney Morning Herald
Phillips
produces immersive work that explores the perception of time and place through
sound and spatialisation by building expansive sonic atmospheres and taking
particular care to tailor his compositions to each context. He often
incorporates methods of collaborative composition that invite creative
contributions from musicians who shift the composer/performer relationship
towards an initiator/creative-participant dynamic.
The multi-faceted and flexible nature of his work facilitates a diversity of practises initiating a cross-fertilisation that informs his many creative projects.
The multi-faceted and flexible nature of his work facilitates a diversity of practises initiating a cross-fertilisation that informs his many creative projects.
Originally trained as a classical pianist,
Phillips has worked as a pianist, cellist, conductor, composer and artist in
the disciplines of new and experimental music, classical music, non-western
musics, improvisation, electronic music, theatre, dance, performance, film, the
visual arts and research.
He has composed for Ensemble Resonanz, Ensemble Mosaik, Berlin Splitter Orchestra, the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Ensemble Offspring, the Australian Art Orchestra, the Deutsches Theater, the Schaubühne, Theater Basel, Schauspielhaus Bochum and for members of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra. He collaborates with artist Heba Y. Amin and is a founding member of Greenery, a multi-disciplinary collective initiated with sculptor David Adamo. Furthermore, he has performed or composed for the Approximation Festival (Düsseldorf), Audio Art (Krakow), Bend/Break Festival (Berlin), Borealis Festival (Bergen), Darmstädter Ferienkurse (Darmstadt), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (Huddersfield), Jazzfest Berlin (Berlin), Maerzmusik (Berlin), and the Sydney International Festival of the Arts (Sydney).
Phillips’ time is equally divided between composition, performance and research. He is an artistic director and member of the Board of Trustees for the Gwaertler Stiftung, a Swiss foundation supporting the arts. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany.
︎ artist website
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He has composed for Ensemble Resonanz, Ensemble Mosaik, Berlin Splitter Orchestra, the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Ensemble Offspring, the Australian Art Orchestra, the Deutsches Theater, the Schaubühne, Theater Basel, Schauspielhaus Bochum and for members of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra. He collaborates with artist Heba Y. Amin and is a founding member of Greenery, a multi-disciplinary collective initiated with sculptor David Adamo. Furthermore, he has performed or composed for the Approximation Festival (Düsseldorf), Audio Art (Krakow), Bend/Break Festival (Berlin), Borealis Festival (Bergen), Darmstädter Ferienkurse (Darmstadt), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (Huddersfield), Jazzfest Berlin (Berlin), Maerzmusik (Berlin), and the Sydney International Festival of the Arts (Sydney).
Phillips’ time is equally divided between composition, performance and research. He is an artistic director and member of the Board of Trustees for the Gwaertler Stiftung, a Swiss foundation supporting the arts. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany.
︎ artist website
scroll down for
"This is sensuous, immersive, ambient music and a stunning example of how a good composer can distil the bombast and drama of the pipe organ into a thing of simple grace and beauty." - The Guardian
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SKEIN Work for orchestra using spatialisation
SKEIN Work for orchestra using spatialisation
"But, in the left area of the stage, there is the key piece of this creation: the piano, the discreet shadow of Simon James Phillips." -Pùblico
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