Phil Wilcox is a baritone, conductor, and animateur whose career is defined by versatility and connection. On stage he has performed with companies such as English Touring Opera, Grange Park Opera, and Buxton International Festival, bringing both comic and dramatic roles vividly to life. As a concert soloist, his repertoire ranges from Bach’s Passions to Verdi’s Requiem, alongside recital appearances at Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder, and collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Phil conducts East Grinstead Choral Society, Fleet Singers and several choirs for Music in Offices. Through his animateurship with organisations including Leeds Song, The Royal Ballet and Opera and English National Opera he inspires the enjoyment of music in schools and communities, making performance and participation inseparable parts of his career.
Born in Dorset, I attended the Thomas Hardye School where I began my vocal training and sang with the Chapel Choir. In 2008 I graduated with a BA (Hons) in Music Studies from Leeds College of Music, studying singing with Christian Immler and Jane Anthony, and was honoured to receive the Douglas Robinson Memorial Prize for Opera. My early post-degree training continued under Paul Nilon.
In 2015 I relocated to London to take up a Master’s in Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music. There I studied with Alex Ashworth and Audrey Hyland, graduating in 2017—and later becoming a Licentiate of the RAM. During my time there, I performed the roles of Kalenik in May Night (Rimsky-Korsakov), Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea (Handel), and covered Liberto in L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi). I sang in the RAM/Kohn Foundation Bach Cantata Series with Iain Ledingham, gave recitals at Wigmore Hall and Marylebone Parish Church, participated in a public masterclass with Dennis O’Neill, and contributed to education projects at Hackney Empire, the Royal Academy Museum and Glyndebourne. I was also a member of the Academy’s Song Circle and was grateful to be supported by the Josephine Baker Trust.
Since leaving RAM, I have pursued a varied operatic and concert career. I have sung as a soloist in productions with Grange Park Opera, English Touring Opera, Buxton Festival Opera, Northern Opera Group, Retrospect Opera, Merry Opera Company, XOGA, Devon Opera, Felici Opera, Proper Opera, Opera on Location, and Young Opera Venture. As a concert soloist over nearly twenty years, I’ve performed oratorio staples such as Messiah, Samson, Israel in Egypt, Bach’s Matthew, John and Luke Passions, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Verdi Requiem, Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem, and Glass’s Songs of Milarepa. I also regularly sing with professional ensembles including the BBC Singers, Platinum Consort and the Philharmonia Chorus, and have been a Lay Clerk at Bradford and Manchester Cathedrals, while also singing frequently at venues such as St Paul’s Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, Brompton Oratory, Chapel Royal St James’s Palace, the Guards Chapel and Royal Hospital Chelsea.
I’m proud to be the Learning and Participation Manager for Leeds Song where I coordinate and deliver workshops in schools and community groups — engaging young people, people with learning disabilities, and the wider public in the world of classical song. As a vocal animateur I’ve worked in partnership with Royal Ballet and Opera, English National Opera, Wigmore Hall, Opera North, Bradford Cathedral, Hull University, RAM’s Open Academy, the NHS Training Academy, the Leadership Foundation for HE, Endemol, Enotria & Coe, Amnesty International, Bank of England and Surbiton High School among others.
My first experience in choral direction came in 2009 when I was invited to start a choir at Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett). Since then, I’ve directed several groups and currently run choirs at three London law firms through Music in Offices, and a community choir, Fleet Singers, based in Gospel Oak. In 2025 I was appointed Musical Director of the East Grinstead Choral Society. I believe in leading with positivity and encouragement while pursuing high-quality music-making—each group balancing large-scale choral works with lighter, revue-style concerts, Come-and-Sing days and festive carol services.
I love the richness of a portfolio career, and find fulfilment in singing, directing, educating, and performing. Outside the more formal concert platform, I play piano accordion and bass guitar in ceilidh bands at folk festivals across the UK and Europe. Away from music, I recharge with long walks through the Lakes, the Peaks and the Dales—and by making and savouring excellent food, wine and coffee.
