Phillip Scott

I was born in 1952 and reside in Sydney, Australia. My father was administrator of the Australian Ballet Company, and later of J. C. Williamson’s, the company that for many years produced Broadway shows in Australia.

I majored in music at Sydney University and, after a brief stint as PA/copyist for the composer Peter Sculthorpe, went on to become the first program manager at 2MBS FM, Australia’s inaugural classical FM radio station.

I then got drawn into the theater, where I have mainly worked ever since, as a writer, actor, singer, pianist, composer, and musical director. I have written feature-film scores, worked extensively in cabaret, appeared in several television series, had four novels published, and two musicals produced. I know that sounds like a lot, but we’re talking 35 years!

I am co-writer, composer, and a sometime performer in the Wharf Revue, a long-running series of political/social satire shows for the Sydney Theatre Company, during which time I have been threatened with a libel suit only once. I have performed solo cabaret shows at various festivals, including Edinburgh. I was script consultant on the acclaimed international production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the Musical, and finally made my Shakespearean debut as Gonzalo in The Tempest. In 2018 I played Dr. Pangloss / Narrator in a concert version of Bernstein’s Candide at the Sydney Opera House.

A lifelong classical record and CD collector, I have subscribed to Fanfare since 1988. I consider it a privilege to have become a regular contributor. I also review recordings and live concerts for Limelight, Australia’s only remaining national classical music and arts magazine.