Philip Bass
Biography
Philip Bass was born in Aylesbury Buckinghamshire in 1953. He first studied violin and composition at Huddersfield Polytechnic School of Music. Later at the Royal Academy of Music whilst studying composition with Richard Stoker he won the Eric Coates and Frederick Corder prizes for composition and a Leverhulme Composers Award.
Time spent working in Dance Accompaniment at London Contemporary Dance Theatre ISTD and Middlesex University Performing Arts Department led to compositions for choreographic commissions including a rock musical called The Inside Story, published in America. Philip also received commissions from the Channel Theatre Company to write music in Medieval Mystery Plays in Birmingham and Canterbury Cathedrals.
An abiding interest in strings and in particular the viola led to greater involvement with composing and arranging educational pieces and string teaching material. For the past decade many pieces by Philip have appeared in the Associated Board, Guildhall and Trinity viola exam syllabuses.