Phillip Cooke (b1980) is a new and distinctive voice to emerge from amongst young British composers.

Phillip Cooke was born in Penrith, Cumbria, and spent the first eighteen years of his life in the Lake District. Following composition studies at Durham and Manchester Universities, and for a PhD at Cardiff University, he was a Research Fellow at The Queen’s College, Oxford from 2007–10. During 2011–12 he taught composition at Eton College, and in January 2013 he was appointed a Lecturer in composition at Aberdeen University. He was artistic director of the London Contemporary Music group (LCMG) from 2004–10.

He has had works premiered in festivals, competitions and concerts across Europe. New works have been commissioned by the LCMG, Eton College, the Temple Church and Selwyn College, Cambridge, amongst many other ensembles. He has a particular association with the John Armitage Memorial Trust (JAM), which has generously sponsored the contribution of Onyx Brass to this recording.

This recording is the first devoted entirely to his music, and features a selection of recent sacred and secular choral works suitable for chamber choir.

The disc includes his largest choral work to date, The Hazel Wood, and another large-scale secular work, Invocation, together with his Morning and Evening Canticles, a selection of motets, and three modern Part-songs.

The changeable colours and moods of the Lake District have strongly influenced his compositional style. This is approachable, but original music, recognisably British, but with hints of dark, stormy undertones which give his works a unique flavour. Phillip Cooke is a composer to watch and we are delighted to be bringing his work to a wider audience!