A Life in Pipes | Charterhouse School | A private school in Surrey

Philip’s journey towards becoming one of the country’s most celebrated organists began as a chorister at Westminster Abbey. His voice broke during his final year, prompting the Abbey to send him “up to the organ loft” to help the organists: turning pages, preparing music, and absorbing the world of the instrument first‑hand.

When I think back to where my love of the organ began, I find myself standing once again in the organ loft of Westminster Abbey. I was a chorister there for four years, and in my final year my voice broke, rendering me somewhat useless in the choir stalls below. Instead, I was invited upstairs to assist the organists; this was my first real introduction to organ playing. To be so close to that magnificent instrument, watching masters at work, and to feel the building respond to every note — they were experiences that left an enduring mark. By the time I arrived at Charterhouse, I was entirely captivated.

At Charterhouse, I took to the organ like a duck to water, and that early spark became a true passion. I began learning with Robin Wells, who was then the School organist and later Director of Music; he was the most inspirational teacher. I started on the small organ in Founders’ Chapel, which many of us saw as the gateway to something much greater: the mighty instrument in Memorial Chapel. That “carrot,” as it often felt, was hanging there from the moment I arrived.

However, I was equally struck by the people; the music department was, quite genuinely, a family. Bill Llewellyn, Robin Wells, and before them John Wilson — together they embodied a kind of musical apostolic succession. Their generosity of spirit and genuine care for young musicians created an atmosphere in which we thrived. For us music scholars, the department was our second home. In breaks, between rehearsals, late into afternoons, we would gather there to practise and to spur each other on. Those friendships and those musical conversations shaped me every bit as much as formal lessons did. It was a very special place to be a part of.

Certain memories remain vivid: performing Bach’s St Matthew Passion under Bill Llewellyn’s direction; a singing day with the renowned conductor and organist Sir David Willcocks; the joy Bill could inspire in congregational hymn singing, sometimes through methods as creative as slipping a £10 note into a hymn book just to see whether the pupil had opened it. These moments didn’t just make us better musicians; they made us love music more deeply.

As I moved through the School, I was inspired by older pupils too, especially Philip Kenyon (P84), an exceptional organist who went on to St John’s College, Cambridge. When he later returned to Charterhouse for a year to teach, he became a direct link to the path I myself hoped to take. And in due course, after two formative years as Organ Scholar at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, I followed him to the same organ scholarship at St John’s.

But my education didn’t stop there. My love of conducting took me from Cambridge to Vienna for three years, and then across the Atlantic to New York, where I completed my Master’s at the Juilliard School. Yet as I immersed myself in orchestral and operatic worlds, the organ and choral music remained at my core. They were what I returned to — first at Westminster Abbey as an organist, then at Winchester Cathedral as Sub‑Organist, and later as Director of Music at Lichfield Cathedral.

Since 2010, Philip has served as Organist‑in‑Residence at Cranleigh School, a role created thanks to a transformative donation that funded their own new instrument — an experience that gives him a particularly personal understanding of Charterhouse’s current undertaking.

After 8 years, I felt I was getting further away from what I loved to do. As is the case with so many jobs, when you move up the ladder the administration of a department takes over; did I want to continue managing an organisation, or return to the heart of what I loved — playing the organ and working directly with choirs? The answer drew me back to Surrey, where I became Organist‑in‑Residence at Cranleigh School. It was a kind of homecoming, and an amazing opportunity to come back to this part of the world, within striking distance of Charterhouse.

Throughout all these years, the organ itself has never ceased to fascinate me. Mozart wasn’t wrong when he called it the “king of instruments.” It almost feels like having an orchestra at your fingertips. Yet playing it is about more than mastering manuals and stops. Every space has its own acoustics and way of shaping sound.