Philip Sheppard (musician)

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Philip Sheppard

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Img_capt = Philip Sheppard
Genre = Soundtrack, Classical, Rock
Occupation = Composer, Cellist
Instrument = cello, electric cello, conductor
Label = Blue Snow, Universal, BMG Zomba
Associated_acts = Unkle, Juliette Binoche, Akram Khan
URL = [http://www.me.com/electricello/]

Biography

Philip Sheppard trained in Cello and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, during which time he specialised in contemporary music. He worked closely with Hans Werner Henze, Sir Michael Tippett and Luciano Berio during this time as a founder member of The Kreutzer String Quartet. Whilst a student, Philip made weekly appearances at The Spitz nightclub, playing entirely improvised concerts, sometimes featuring his Piano Quintet - formed with Keith Tippett. He collaborated with pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, who encouraged him to move away from a conventional musical environment, and pursue his composition. He went on to pioneer electro-acoustic improvisation joining the Smith Quartet and appearing regularly with the London Sinfonietta. After completing a Fellowship, he was made a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music where he is now a Senior Lecturer.

Albums

His early solo albums, 'The Glass Cathedral' and 'The Diver in the Crypt', featured new compositions devised for site-specific performances. The albums received rave reviews on release and are regularly played on Radio 3. The tracks feature a specially commissioned electric cello that has become a cornerstone of many of Philip's compositions. The albums attracted the attention of Scott Walker, who invited him to play at his Southbank Centre Meltdown Festival. They collaborated again on Pulp's album 'We Love Life' with Jarvis Cocker and after that on Walker's critically acclaimed album 'The Drift'. He has also arranged songs for Jarvis Cocker’s solo album ‘Jarvis’, David Bowie and Suzanne Vega.

Philip regularly collaborates with James Lavelle and UNKLE. They have recently written and produced the forthcoming album 'End Titles....Stories For Film' (with Gavin Clark, Josh Homme, Chris Goss and Pablo Clements) following the success of the recent album 'War Stories'.

Film Soundtracks

His first orchestral soundtrack was commissioned for the documentary feature, In the Shadow of the Moon, which won major awards at the Boulder, Florida, Indianapolis and Sedona film festivals, as well as the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. The Soundtrack was released on the Lakeshore records imprint.Together with members of UNKLE he arranged and performed solo cello on the remix of The X-Files theme music for the end titles of the 2008 film 'X-Files I want to believe'.

Olympic Games

Philip has been commissioned to write and produce the music for the Olympic Handover Ceremony, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This marks the point when the Olympic flag passes to London in preparation for the 2012 games. The sequence begins with the orchestral work 'This is London' performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, and leads to an arrangement of 'Whole Lotta Love' (by Led Zeppelin) performed by Jimmy Page, Leona Lewis and the London Symphony orchestra. This version of the song was co-produced by Steve Robson, Jimmy Page, Philip Sheppard and Leona Lewis.

Philip was also commissioned to arrange and direct the British National Anthem for this events.

Television Scores and Productions

Philip has produced the music for two recent BBC TV live events; The Manchester Passion and The Liverpool Nativity. These have won numerous awards, including the BBC award for Best Music Production of the year, which was awarded to Philip, together with the writer Stephen Powell.

Philip has completed a suite for piano, strings and electronics that forms the soundtrack for Robert Winston's new series, ‘Superdoctors’, due to be shown on BBC1 in the Autumn.

Philip is also currently writing a set of pieces for Viol Consort, to be recorded on location, that will form the soundtrack for Dr David Starkey's forthcoming series on Henry VIII on Channel Four.

Dance works

Philip has had a long and fruitful professional relationship with Akram Khan. He first joined Akram as an improvising cellist in the Kathak projects 'Third Catalogue' and 'Ronin', collaborating with Hanif Kureishi and the AK Company for 'The God of Small Tales'. In 2006, Philip was commissioned to write 'Sacred Monsters' for Akram Khan and Sylvie Guillem. He toured with the production until the Summer of 2007, his final performance being at the Herod Atticus Theatre in the shadow of the Parthenon.In 2008 he was commissioned to compose the score for a new Khan collaboration; this time featuring Juliette Binoche. The production, In-I,staged at the National Theatre in London featured design by Anish Kapoor.

External links

* [http://web.me.com/electricello/ Philip Sheppard website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/philipsheppard Philip Sheppard myspace]