Sheffield Bach Choir are extremely pleased to welcome Philip Collin as their new Conductor from September 2023. Originally from Nottingham, Philip was Organ Scholar of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He then took a post-graduate diploma in piano accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied with John York while taking part in regular classes with Iain Burnside and Graham Johnson.
Since then he has worked extensively as a vocal coach, repetiteur, adjudicator, organist and conductor, and performed as a song accompanist throughout the UK and Europe.
As an accompanist he has been a champion of English song, twice performing the complete works of Gerald Finzi in 2006 (the fiftieth anniversary of the composer’s death) and giving the first performance of many songs, most notably by Ian Venables and Elaine Hugh-Jones and some unpublished songs by Ivor Gurney.
He has had a varied career as a performer, including playing and singing on a number of pop recordings, playing the organ on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack to Gravity and piano on the 2014 film, Fury.
As a choral conductor, he has previously been Musical Director of Manchester Bach Choir, West Barnes Singers and Carshalton Choral Society, and Director of Music at several churches, most notably St Peter’s Streatham, home of one of the finest church choirs in the country.
Since relocating from London to Yorkshire in 2017, he has been Musical Director of St. Peter’s Consort and Artistic Director and Conductor of Halifax Choral Society. He is now Director of Music at St John’s Ranmoor as well as working as a maths teacher at UTC Sheffield, and is hugely looking forward to taking up the position of Conductor of Sheffield Bach Society in September.
Sheffield Bach Society 