Phillip Houghton (26 April 1954 – 30 September 2017) was an Australian classical guitarist and composer. Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, he began studying music at the age of 20 at Melba Conservatorium of Music. After a year, he then began studying privately with well-known classical pianist and guitarist Sebastian Jorgenson at the Montsalvat Artists Colony in

Eltham, Victoria Eltham () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km north-east of the Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Eltham recorded a population of 18,847 at the 2021 census. Eltham is ...

. Although Houghton had little compositional training, his music has achieved critical acclaim. In particular, his piece ''Stélé'' was recorded by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

in his 1998 album ''The Guitarist''.

Karin Schaupp Karin Schaupp (born 1972) is a German-born Australian classical guitarist. She has won APRA Music Awards and ARIA Music Awards. Early life Karin Schaupp was born in Hofheim am Taunus, Germany, in 1972. Her mother, Isolde Schaupp, was a teacher ...

made the first complete recording. Houghton composed music for film and Television, including the motion picture "The Custodian" (John Dingwall) and the animation series Plasmo (Tony Lawrence). He wrote a large number of unpublished sketches for electronic media and produced a record of his own experimental improvisations on electric guitar and piano frame, distributed privately. Houghton lived for many years in Sydney, teaching from his home in Petersham and then Summer Hill. He was highly regarded as a teacher, with a profound understanding of guitar technique and musical interpretation. He died, unexpectedly, within months of his returning to live in

in 2017. A posthumous personal reflection on Houghton has been written by Aleksandr Tsiboulski. A fortnight after his death, Michael MacManus played at the Monsalvat Artists Colony a selection of Houghton's works studied with the composer since his return to Melbourne in a fitting and poignant tribute to Houghton's life and music.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Phillip 1954 births 2017 deaths Australian male composers Australian composers