Phil Cowling has had an impressive choral career singing with many leading choirs such as London Symphony Chorus and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. With the London Symphony Chorus, Phil participated in, amongst other things, the Russian Premiere of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, and the world premiere of Michael Berkley's Or Shall we Die, as well as many major recordings with both choirs, such as the recently released Mahler 8th Symphony conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
As a bass soloist, Phil's repertoire includes the requiems of Mozart, Faure and Brahms, Mendelssohn's Elijah, the priest in Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and others.
In 1997, Phil formed the Post Office choir which proved a vehicle to fulfill his desire to conduct. With The Post Office choir, Phil has conducted performances of Rossini's Petite Messe Solenelle, Mozart's Coronation Mass and Vivaldi's Gloria. Since then, Phil has formed Cantus, a choir that leads the worship in the major English cathedrals when the regular choir is on vacation.
Since its inception in 2001, Cantus has gained a reputation as being one of the country's leading a capella ensembles performing in venues such as St James Piccadilly and many major English cathedrals. Cantus are currently exploring opportunities to travel abroad and widen their reputation further.
Apart from music, Phil also has a love of motorbikes, fast cars, model and steam railways.