Philip Wilby

Philip Wilby (born Pontefract, 1949) is a British composer.

Educated at Leeds Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford, he joined the staff at the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in the Department of Music in 1972. There he taught various composition, liturgy, directing, and score reading classes as well as co-founding the Leeds University Liturgical Choir.

Composing for many different instruments and ensembles (piano, organ, voice, chamber ensemble, wind orchestra), Wilby is most known for his compositions for brass band. Many of Wilby's pieces are based on his strong Christian beliefs. Famous works that fall in this category are ... Dove Descending, Revelation, and The New Jerusalem. Many of Wilby's works are written especially to be used as test pieces in brass band contests all over the world. One recent composition to fit this description is Vienna Nights, which was commissioned as the test piece for the 2006 British Open Brass Band Championship held in Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Most famously though Paganini Variations, one of his finest pieces of work, which was selected as the test piece for the 2011 Regional Championships (Championship Section) and has been used as the test piece for many other major competitions over the years, and has been recorded by a number of bands including Black Dyke, Fodens and Grimethorpe.