Winner of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s inaugural Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition in 2010, Brandon Phillips was appointed resident conductor of the CPO in June 2015. He studied bassoon and viola at the University of Cape Town, receiving his B Mus Hons in solo bassoon in 2005. Phillips was principal bassoon of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra until his appointment of winds and ensembles lecturer at UCT from the beginning of 2023.
As a result of the Len Van Zyl competition, Phillips studied conducting at the Northwestern University in Chicago with Victor Yampolsky and was a conducting intern with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. In 2014, he attended Arjan Tien’s conducting class at the Fontys Conservatoire – Tilburg and was Tien’s assistant conductor in a WDR Rundfunkorchester concert in Cologne in Germany. Phillips is regularly invited as an adjudicator and conductor for various competitions such as Artscape National Youth and Schock Singing competitions.
He works with many South African orchestras and choirs such as the Miagi Youth Orchestra, which he conducted to acclaim in Europe, the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, Bloemfontein University Symphony, and, of course, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also conducted at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. In 2012, Phillips received Western Cape Government’s award for “ outstanding achievements by the youth”.
