Phillips, Peter (1953– )

English choral director. With the Tallis Scholars, he has won renown for recordings of such works as Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responsories, Missa Pastores by Clemens non Papa, Byrd's Great Service and three Masses, the English anthems of Tallis, and the Masses of Josquin Desprez and Palestrina.

After studying at St John's College, Oxford, he founded the Tallis Scholars in 1978. They have given many concerts in Britain, Australia (Byrd's five-part Mass at the Sydney Opera House), and the USA (from 1988). They made their London Proms debut in 1988, with Victoria's Requiem, and toured the Far East in 1991. Phillips is the author of English Sacred Music, 1549–1649 (1991).