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Phil started playing the organ at the age of
eleven. One day whilst standing outside a local organ shop
waiting for his father, he was intrigued by the sounds coming
through the open shop door. He ventured inside and
invested the now meagre amount of 50 pence in his first organ
lesson, and from this beginning has flourished a fruitful
career.
After only two years of lessons at the age of
thirteen, Phil began performing in public. His first
public appearances were performing for children of a similar age
and younger at children's Christmas parties in and around the
Derby area, his home town. At the same age he also
became the resident organist at perhaps the best restaurant in
Derby at the time, the Golden Pheasant, where he played for
three years, three times a week, on the top of the range Hammond
organ entertaining people from 8pm through until 11pm whilst
they dined, and afterwards for dancing. On many an
occasion he had the good fortune to meet celebrities such as Bob
Monkhouse, Syd Lawrence, Des O'Connor and many others who were
performing in Derby at the time.
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Highlights of
Phil's career have been appearing at the age of 17 with Des
O'Connor, playing on the same bill as his idol Klaus
Wunderlich, backing such artists as Norman Collier, playing
as supporting act every year with the late Joe Loss and his
Orchestra, also Syd Lawrence and his Orchestra at the Derby
Assembly Rooms, where he has been the resident organist for
the past 20 years playing for both social and tea dances. |
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Phil is also a very accomplished pianist,
having played the piano since he was 16 and passing many exams
and diplomas in quite a short space of time, including CT FVCM,
Hon VCM, Cert Mus Ed.
With his most recent highlights of his career
he can call himself truly international. He has performed
as far afield as America, Spain and plays every two years in the
Channel Islands where he has also been on the "air waves"
playing on Radio Guernsey. He has also performed in
Germany twice for Bohm Electronic GmbH at Organ Festivals.
Broadcasting is definitely not a new venture
for Phil as he is regularly featured on BBC Radio 2's programme,
The Organist Entertains. Having recently signed a
recording contract with Grosvenor Recording Studios in
Birmingham, his CDs and cassettes are available throughout the
British Isles selling in HMV and Virgin Megastores.
Phil's life at the moment is a very busy one,
performing from John O'Groats to Lands End and teaching people
in and around the Derby area. For the past three years he
has played in front of 30,000 people every September for Derby
City Leisure services with the East of England Orchestra at an
open air concert in the park.
When he is not entertaining people with his
musical talents he is entertaining guests at home, because his
idea of relaxation is cooking a curry for friends - he may be
pretty hot on the organ but when it comes to an Indian curry,
there is no-one hotter!! |