Simon Phillippo studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he completed his PhD in 2000. Following a year at the National Opera Studio, Simon was appointed to the music staff at Welsh National Opera, where he has conducted Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, Chorus!, The Elixir of Love, and La Bohème. He has also been chorus master for many WNO productions, including Jephtha and The Sacrifice, and for WNO recordings of Jenůfa and Katya Kabanova. Simon has conducted the Mozart Festival Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, London, and St George’s Hall, Bradford; and he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in performances of Madam Butterfly in 2007 and Tosca in 2008. Simon was runner-up in the prestigious Leeds Conductors Competition in the summer of 2009, leading to further conducting engagements in Europe and the UK. He recently worked with the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra, and will conduct concerts with the RPO later this year.