Philip Norman
Profile
Philip Norman is one of sixty authors who attended The Press Christchurch Writers Festival from 4 to 7 September 2008.
Philip Norman is one of the treasures of the Christchurch music scene. Born and educated in the city, he did a Ph.D. in Musicology in 1984. He works as a professional composer and writer and has been musical director of Christchurch School of Instrumental Music and composer in residence in 1992 with the CSO.
He has composed a number of highly entertaining pieces and local theatre-goers may recall with pleasure the delightful romance spoof, Love off the shelf, which had a book by Roger Hall and lyrics by A.K. Grant. Other works included the ballet of Peter Pan and his version of A Christmas carol.
Published works
In 2007, he produced the book Douglas Lilburn: his life and music. It is an excellent book which uses a wealth of informational resources to produce a well rounded and fascinating book. Jack Body, in The Listener, said “his book is a compulsory read, not only for those with some familiarity with the Lilburn the man, or Lilburn through his music, but also for anyone with a skerrick of interest in New Zealand’s path to cultural maturity in the 20th century”. The Montana N.Z. Book Awards thought the same and it deservedly won the Biography category.
