Philip Stopford is a composer and choral trainer based in Leighton Buzzard. His music has taken him from Truro to New York via Oxford, Canterbury, Belfast and Chester. He gives Remain Composed his thoughts for others looking to build a career in composition.

Philip says 99% of his pieces are settings of sacred texts - and with each work he tries to think about what he wants it to achieve or say. He says that as a composer of church music, he likes to write music which people will actually use in their worship. He says he loves being part of people’s repertoire.

Discussing the limitations on composers, Philip says there are fewer notes than there are balls on a snooker table. But every game of snooker is different, and we haven’t run out of melodies just  ...