Philip Powers
Born
Philip Powers

1963
Bankstown, Sydney, Australia
Occupation(s)Record Producer, Composer and Author
Years active1979-present
Spouse
Alison Robards
​
(m. 2008)​
Children2

Philip Powers (born 1963) is a record producer - and author - specialising in film scores and classical music.[1] His recordings have been nominated for five ARIA Awards. He has produced 34 CDs for the 1M1 Records label including The Lighthorsemen and The Coolangatta Gold.[2] He has also produced or executive produced more than 50 CDs for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on Sydney Symphony Live and other labels.[3] A number of these have been with the conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as two CDs with the conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti. Another CD featured Vladimir Ashkenazy as pianist playing rare Rachmaninov works. He was supervising producer of Sir Charles Mackerras, a double CD featuring famous Czech repertoire and Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Career

Scores

After his graduation from University of New South Wales having acted in the position of Music Officer for several months in 1984, he was appointed Director of Music for Film Australia in 1986. Between 1983 and 1988 he was responsible for the music appearing in over 200 Film Australia productions, including Cane Toads, also working with Gillian Armstrong and Jane Campion on Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces and After Hours.[4] He supervised the musical and choreographed sequences in Academy Award-winning director Bruce Petty's The Movers and was the recording producer of the AFI 1984 Best Film Winner Annie's Coming Out which was also nominated for Best Original Music Score, losing to Bruce Smeaton and Garth Porter for Streethero.[5] 18 years later he released the Original Soundtrack Recording on his 1M1 Records label.[6]

He produced his first CDs of film scores for the Southern Cross label in 1988, working with Simon Walker on The Wild Duck[7] and Brian May on Frog Dreaming as well as Tony Bremner on The Everlasting Secret Family.[8]

Other notable film scores which he produced for CD from classic Australian feature films include Robbery Under Arms, The Lighthorsemen, We of the Never Never, The Flying Doctors, Road Games, Patrick, Harlequin, Snapshot, Sky Pirates, Thirst, Devil in the Flesh, Caddie, beDevil, Eliza Fraser and The Coolangatta Gold. Additionally, he produced the CD of Nigel Westlake's score for the four-part television documentary series, The Celluloid Heroes.

He also wrote and produced the scores for a number of plays, documentaries, shorts and animated films. He has also written classical music for orchestra, synthesizers and piano as well as a trio for violin, cello and percussion.[9]

Ironbark Bill (1985) is a 5-episode TV short and a feature short animated film narrated by John Clarke. It played in cinemas in Australia as the animated short before the films Santa Clause (1985) and Crocodile Dundee (1986).[10] "Town Under Threat" is a documentary (which screened on Channel 7's The World Around Us) about the threat of a potentially devastating exploding volcano in Rabaul. "Don't be the Last to Know" is a documentary about the pervading threat of drugs to children in the mid-1980s in Australia, presented by Michael Willesee. "Let 'em Vote" and "Saturday Saturday" were training films for elections in the 1980s. "Combat Zone" was a classified training film for the army in the series, War Administration.

In addition to these were films about accounting for a multicultural society, "The Investigation", the supernatural drama, "The Traveller's Tale", and a documentary produced by Anthony Buckley about the famous Gulflander train (narrated by Bill Peach) which ran from Croydon to Normanton.

Other classical productions

His work with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra began in 2008 as recording manager, the year before Vladimir Ashkenazy began his five-year tenure as chief conductor. Together they recorded eight CDs of music by Elgar and Prokofiev, with all the symphonies and piano concertos; and in the following three years they collaborated with the Japanese label Exton, and produced another 10 CDs of all of Mahler's symphonies.

In 2014, he accepted a new contract with the orchestra to produce concerts as live webstreams and for video-on-demand.

Other notable releases include contemporary classical music of Elision and a CD with Simon Walker, Guy Gross, Chris Neal and Mark Isaacs on the Music for Pianos, Percussion and Synthesizers CD, which also featured his own work, "Wired".[11]

In 2016, the recording he produced of "Josh Pyke with the SSO" received an ARIA Award.

In 2017, Powers produced two concerts for Foxtel for the SSO, directed a film of the performance of "In Paradisum" by the Sydney Youth Orchestra of a work by George Palmer, and produced four new recordings.[9]

Author

In 2020 Powers wrote “Black and White: Sidney Poitier's Emergence in the 1960s as a Black Icon”. [12]

Critical reception

Roger Covell, chief classical music critic for The Sydney Morning Herald, wrote in his 1990 review of the CD, "Simon Walker's Binary has a feeling of severity and power to it; Philip Powers, producer of the disc and its animating spirit, inevitably calls to mind a degree of filmic spookiness with his use of almost-human wails and sighs from electronic sources in his inventive Wired." The article finished with praise for the concept album, Covell writing, "[t]he disc is a useful message from composers who are in the process of working out their place in Australian music. More messages of a similar kind would be welcome."[13]

The Australian Recording Industry Association nominated Powers and the 1M1 label for five ARIA awards:[14] Bloodmoon, Wendy Cracked a Walnut, beDevil and the highly regarded Christ Church St Laurence Choir CD Victoria.

Classical Releases as Executive Producer / Producer

Year Composer Work Artists Label Sessions CD Producer
2015 Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons James Ehnes / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Producer checkY checkY
2014 Josh Pyke Josh Pyke - Live with the SSO Christopher Dragon / Josh Pyke / Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics Producer checkY checkY
2014 Gustav Holst The Planets David Robertson / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Co-ProdcheckY checkY
2013 Igor Stravinsky The Firebird (2008 Performance) David Robertson / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2013 Gustav Mahler Das lied von de erde (ABC Archival Recording) Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2013 Gustav Mahler Kindertotenlieder (ABC Archival Recording) Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2013 Gustav Mahler Rückert-Lieder (ABC Archival Recording) Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2013 Pyotr Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 in G, Op.44 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Garrick Ohlsson / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Producer checkY checkY
2013 Nigel Westlake & Lior Compassion Nigel Westlake / Lior / Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2012 Ross Edwards Saxophone Concerto (Full Moon Dances) Miguel Harth-Bedoya / Amy Dickson / Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2012 Brett Dean The Siduri Dances Benjamin Northey / Amy Dickson / Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics Sup. ProdcheckY ☒N
2012 Peter Sculthorpe Island Songs Benjamin Northey / Amy Dickson / Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics Sup. ProdcheckY ☒N
2011 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 6 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2011 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 7 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2011 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 9 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2011 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 10 (Barshai Edition) Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2011 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 2 in C minor Resurrection Vladimir Ashkenazy / Matthews, DeYoung, Sydney Phil Choirs / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live / Exton Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2011 Brett Dean Violin Concerto - The Lost Art of Letter Writing Jonathn Nott / Frank Peter Zimmermann / Sydney Symphony Orchestra BIS / SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2009-2011 Sergei Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet ballet (complete) Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Co-ProdcheckY checkY
2010 Pyotr Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D, Op.35 Vladimir Ashkenazy / James Ehnes / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Pyotr Tchaikovsky Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher, Op. 42: I. Méditation II. Scherzo III. Mélodie Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) / James Ehnes (violin) SSO Live / Onyx Classics Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Pyotr Tchaikovsky Sérénade mélancolique, Op. 26 Vladimir Ashkenazy / James Ehnes / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live / Onyx Classics Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Pyotr Tchaikovsky Valse-Scherzo for Violin and Orchestra in C, Op. 34 Vladimir Ashkenazy / James Ehnes / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live / Onyx Classics Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Vaughan Williams Flos Campi Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Melba [Aust] Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2010 Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Melba [Aust] Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2010 Benjamin Britten Sinfonia da Requiem Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Melba [Aust] Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2010 Carl W. Stalling and Milt Franklyn Bugs Bunny at the Symphony George Daugherty / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Watertower Music Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2010 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 3 in D minor Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live / Exton Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 5 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton / SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major Symphony of a Thousand Vladimir Ashkenazy / Adelaide Symphony Chorus Gondwana Voices Sydney Children's Choir Sydney Phil Choirs WASO Chorus / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton / SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2010 Gustav Mahler Das lied von de erde Vladimir Ashkenazy / Stuart Skelton Lilli Paasikivi / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton / SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2009 Sergei Rachmaninoff Rare Rachmaninoff Vladimir Ashkenazy / Goldner String Quartet SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live / Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 2 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 3 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 4 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 6 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 7 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Lt. Kije Ugly Duckling Love of Three Oranges Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1 In D-flat Major Op. 10 (1912) Vladimir Ashkenazy / Alexander Gavrylyuk / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 In G Minor Op. 16 (1913) Vladimir Ashkenazy / Alexander Gavrylyuk / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major Op.26 (1921) Vladimir Ashkenazy / Alexander Gavrylyuk / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 4 In B-flat Major Op. 53 (1931) Left Hand Vladimir Ashkenazy / Alexander Gavrylyuk / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major Op.55 (1932) Vladimir Ashkenazy / Alexander Gavrylyuk / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2009 Sergei Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf Vladimir Ashkenazy / John Bell (narrator) / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Vaughan Williams The Dream of Gerontius Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Universal Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85 Vladimir Ashkenazy (cond.) / Jian Wang (soloist) / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Universal Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Gianluigi Gelmetti Song of Life (Cantata della vita) Gianluigi Gelmetti (cond.) / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live Exec. Producer checkY checkY
2008 Benjamin Britten The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Benjamin Northey / Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Maurice Ravel Mother Goose suite Benjamin Northey / Sydney Symphony Orchestra ABC Classics Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major, Op. 39 No. 1 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 2 in A minor, Op. 39 No. 2 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 3 in C minor, Op. 39 No. 3 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 in G major, Op. 39 No. 4 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5 in C major, Op. 39 No. 5 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 6 in G minor (elab. Payne) Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Symphony No. 1 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Symphony No. 2 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36 Enigma Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Edward Elgar In the South (Alassio), Concert Overture, Op. 50 Vladimir Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton Exec. Producer checkY ☒N
2008 Richard Strauss Thus Sprach Zarathustra Charles Mackerras / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2008 Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 B141 Charles Mackerras / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2008 Bedřich Smetana Vltava (The Moldau) Charles Mackerras / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2008 Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta Charles Mackerras / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY
2008 Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 1 Gianluigi Gelmtti / Sydney Symphony Orchestra SSO Live ☒N checkY

References

  1. ^ "IMDB Biography".
    - "The Wild Duck CD notes".
  2. ^ "The Coolangatta Gold 1984 - full cast and crew".
  3. ^ "1M1 Records website Biography".
  4. ^ Music for Pianos, Percussion and Synthesizers CD booklet notes
  5. ^ AFI Website: 1984 Best Original Music Score
  6. ^ 1M1CD1026 Annie's Coming Out back slick
  7. ^ "The Wild Duck CD - 1M1 website".
  8. ^ The Everlasting Secret Family CD back cover, top left corner
  9. ^ a b "Philip Powers biography". phillippowers.com.
  10. ^ IMDB
  11. ^ "Music for Pianos, Percussion and Synthesizers CD booklet notes".
  12. ^ "Black and White by Philip Powers".
  13. ^ Sydney Morning Herald review (1990)
  14. ^ "ARIA website".
  15. ^ "Recording And Webstreaming Credits".
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