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Philip Czapłowski

Czapłowski was born in London. His father was Polish, born to a peasant family in the village of Kijonij (now Kijonys, Lithuania). Philip's mother was British, born in Marylebone of Irish, Cornish and Scottish ancestry.

In 1969 the Czapłowski family migrated to Australia. After arriving in Melbourne Philip studied piano with William L (Bill) Lowe (1970 to 1975), and composition with Felix Werder (1975 to 1977).

Czapłowski subsequently studied music at Melbourne and La Trobe Universities, where his composition teachers included Peter Tahourdin, Ted Dollarhide, and Keith Humble, as well as piano with Rodney Sigston.

In 2007 Czapłowski completed a Doctorate in music composition at Monash University (under the supervision of Thomas Reiner), where he also lectured in music theory (Schenkerian analysis). In 2005 Czapłowski attended the Krzystof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland, where he worked with Marcel Chyrzyński, Zbigniew Bujarski, Krystyna Moszumañska-Nazar, Wojciech Widłak, and Anna Zawadska-Gołosz.

Philip Czapłowski's compositions include the orchestral work Momentum, commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2000, four concertos written for Australia Pro Arte (now the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra), and numerous chamber and solo compositions. His music has been performed and recorded around the world, and he is a represented artist in the collection of the Australian Music Centre and the National Library of Australia, Canberra.

Czapłowski is a former board member of Australia Pro Arte (now the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra), The Australiam Chamber Soloists, The Australian Musicians' Guild, State Music Camp Victoria, and the Arts Faculty Board, Monash University. He is a member, and former Treasurer of the Melbourne Composers' League.

Philip's other interests are psychology (particularly as it relates to music), abstract painting, current affairs and genealogy. He is married to Yan Yan and they have a daughter named Leah.


Many of the composer's scores are available to download in PDF format.