Philip Arkwright

Philip Arkwright is Organist & Master of the Music at Buckfast Abbey. Born in St Helens, Merseyside, Philip began his musical career as Organ Scholar at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and was subsequently appointed as Sub-Organist and Director of the Cathedral Girls’ Choir. Philip graduated with a combined honours degree in theology and religious studies, with music, from Liverpool Hope University, and afterwards with a master’s degree in Sacred Music. During his tenure at Buckfast Abbey, Philip has overseen the expansion of the music department to include the new Ruffatti organ, the formation of a new choir of choristers, a thriving concert and organ recital series, in addition to the establishment of the Abbey’s own record label. In 2018, Philip directed the Abbey Choir at a number of high profile services and events to celebrate 1000 years since the monastery’s foundation, including a live televised broadcast of Christmas Midnight Mass – the first such broadcast from a Roman Catholic abbey in the UK.