Philippa Healey has achieved remarkable success as a singer, pianist, composer, and arranger throughout her diverse and unique career. From a young age, Philippa’s exceptional musical talent earned her a spot at the prestigious Chetham School of Music, where she honed her skills as a pianist and composer. Her extraordinary singing voice also gained significant recognition, leading to starring roles in the West End, including the record-breaking London production of Les Miserables.
In 2003, Philippa decided to merge her talents in singing, piano, music production, arranging, and stagecraft into a Vegas-style cabaret show. Since then, she has headlined extensively across the globe for the world’s most luxurious cruise lines. The last year has been a milestone with the release of new music, featuring collaborations with legendary members of Jamiroquai—Rob Harris, Paul Turner, and Derrick McKenzie—and award-winning icons from London’s contemporary jazz scene. As she prepares for a special performance celebrating her 50th birthday, we caught up to discuss her remarkable career.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Can you share how your journey into music began and what inspired you to pursue it as a career?
Although my parents are not “musical”, as such, they always played a lot of music in the house. We didn’t own a piano, at first, but there was a little Bontempi keyboard at the local supermarket, that was set up as a demo. I was so obsessed with playing this keyboard, that my parents used to literally dump me on it every week, while they went around the supermarket to do the weekly shop. They’d traverse the entire store, pay for all their groceries, come back, and I’d still be there (this was the late 1970s when it was far more commonplace to leave your kids unattended!)
Bless my parents, because they did buy me that little keyboard for Christmas. This just fueled my obsession with music even more, so they eventually bought a secondhand piano… and I haven’t stopped playing piano since.
Who were some of your early influences and mentors, and how did they shape your artistic path?
Even though I trained as a classical musician from an early age, I’ve always been obsessed with funk, especially anything with scrumptious jazz chords. As a teenager, I was constantly listening to Prince, and also the British band Level 42. Then, I heard the first track of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Inner Visions’ album playing at a party, when I was 18 years old. The song was “Too High”, which – as most musicians know – has those amazing jazz chord progressions at the start of the verse. I’ve been addicted to Stevie ever since! I also love Steely Dan for their harmonies, and Jamiroquai for their general funkiness. The fact that I’ve now been lucky enough to record and perform my own original songs with members of Jamiroquai is a dream come true.
How did studying piano and composition at Chetham’s School of Music influence your musical career?
It really was the best schooling I could have possibly asked for, and I was very lucky to have been given a government-funded place, so that my parents didn’t have to pay full fees (which were far beyond our family means) It was at Chetham’s that my singing voice was also noticed by my teachers; funnily enough it was my piano teacher who heard me messing around one time, and he encouraged me to branch out additionally into singing. I’d just gone around singing as a joke, up until then – it used to make my friends laugh when I did impressions of opera singers!
How did it feel to be the youngest solo singer to perform and record with the Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields orchestra?
It was a massive honor, and I definitely have to thank my mentors both at Chetham’s School Of Music, and also in the National Youth Choir (which played a huge role in the development of my singing voice). In my late teens and early twenties, I got to do some incredible tours with the Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields. One of the most memorable moments of my entire life was when we flew to Hong Kong, to do a “super-sized” version of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Our orchestra and choir joined forces with the Hong Kong Symphony orchestra, so I think there were 400 musicians/singers onstage that night – all of us coming together to perform one of the most iconic pieces ever to have been written. We all came off stage utterly speechless; it was such an emotional experience. Music has blessed me with so many memories.
How did your time at Oxford influence your development as a musician and performer?
To be perfectly honest, I actually didn’t have the best time at Oxford. Don’t get me wrong – I’m immensely grateful to have been able to study there. But I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision by turning down a place to study Media Music Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, in order to go to Oxford instead. I feel like I would have been more inspired – as a musician – at the Royal Academy, given that the course at Oxford was more of a historical music syllabus. (I know some people who go absolutely nuts over early music, and good for them – but I’m not really one of them!)
However, one positive aspect of my time at Oxford is that I did develop my confidence as a singer even more, as it seemed as if I was being granted endless opportunities to sing in various concerts! In hindsight, this set me up well for the next chapter of my life as a musician.
Let’s talk about your London West End Debut. Can you describe your experience being cast by Sir Cameron Mackintosh as Cosette in “Les Misèrables,” and what lessons did you learn from working on this production?
The funny thing about being cast in “Les Miserables” is that I didn’t really consider myself a musical theatre performer, in the same way that my peers in the West End did! At that point, I identified more as a classical singer, but – lucky for me – the role of Cosette is more of a classical-style role than, say, Eponine or Fantine. I loved the glamour and glitz of being in a West End show, and – again – I’ll be eternally grateful to have been given these amazing opportunities. If I’m completely honest, though… I always felt as if something was missing. Looking back, I now realize that – when you have identified as a writer/composer for as long as I have (it’s been my obsession since I was a kid) – you don’t quite get the same buzz from singing other people’s songs, as you do when you sing your own.
What were the challenges and highlights of playing roles like Tess in “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” and Young Heidi in “Follies”?
Tess was my first West End role, and I was literally plucked from an open audition to play the title role. It changed the course of my life and career. Sadly, it ended up being a huge flop at the box office (!) Sondheim’s “Follies” (which played for the whole summer season at the Royal Festival Hall) was a far more successful production, and was one of the most positive stage experiences I can remember. The score is like Gershwin on steroids, and the whole production was sponsored by Swarovski crystals… so you can imagine how phenomenal the costumes were!
What inspired you to create a Vegas-style cabaret show for Cunard Cruises, and how has performing internationally influenced your artistry?
To be frank, show business can be a very brutal industry. I remember my West End theatre agent telling me I was “getting a bit old” at 27 years of age (!) She said: “You’re going to need to start lying about your age, and saying that you’re 23.” Sure enough, the theatre offers did seem to dry up in London. I think my voice at the time was so angelic-sounding that casting directors could only envisage me as a very young, teenage ingenue… so the moment I started to look as if I was over 25, I suddenly didn’t fit their mould anymore. (You have to remember that this was back in the early 2000s when beauty standards across West End casting departments were even more restrictive than they are now, in many ways!)
I had previously done some cruise work as a cocktail pianist, straight out of Uni, and so I had a bit of experience and knowledge of the music scene on ships. After the depressing conversation with my theatre agent (telling me I was getting too old at 27), I remember playing and singing in a piano bar in London that night, when the bar manager came over to tell me to keep the noise down. I don’t blame him: after all, it was meant to be background music, so me belting out “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” wasn’t totally appropriate! But something shifted in my mindset, and I started to think: “I deserve to be singing on a stage, where people are actually there to listen to me, rather than telling me to keep the noise down!”, and so I contacted some cruise agents I knew, and the rest is history!
Performing internationally is fun because you get to meet so many people from all over the world – not just in the audience, but also the other musicians that I work with onstage doing my show. I love that music brings us all together. I’ve had musicians onstage with me from both Ukraine and Russia in the same band, for example. It’s just us all doing what we love and allowing music to give us a chance to put aside all the political turmoil going on in the world.
What was it like performing with the Choir Of the Enlightenment at the BBC Proms?
It was fun at the time, and I loved the touring that we did together, too. But now I feel like I’m moving into a completely different genre as an artist.
Can you tell us about your latest EP of modern funk and jazz, and what inspired you to explore this genre?
Writing modern funk and jazz has been my absolute obsession since I was a kid, but I’ve kept it mainly private for many years. Back in January 2023, I was on my laptop calculating the royalties I would need to pay to other songwriters if I were to compile a West End/musical theatre album. I had the thought: “Wow, I wouldn’t need to pay any of these composers if I was just recording my OWN music.” And then I just hit me like a ton of bricks. Why am I not recording my own music?
Anyway, I’ve had a fire under me ever since, and I have not been this driven and this ambitious for a long time. It’s a very exciting new chapter for me.
You are about to celebrate your 50th Birthday with a special performance. Please tell us more about this event and what audiences can expect.
Honestly, this is going to be one of the most thrilling gigs of my life! I can’t wait to share the funky grooves I have been recording with members of Jamiroquai, in fact, Derrick McKenzie (Jamiroquai’s drummer for the last 30 years!) is going to be one of my special guests onstage. We will be performing a mixture of my own super-funky original songs, plus some covers/bangers thrown in for good measure. The funk levels will be off the chart!
The gig will be at Toulouse-Lautrec Jazz Club in London on Tuesday, January 7th (7.30 pm)
Looking back at your career and life choices, is there anything you would have done differently?
Sometimes I beat myself up mentally a little bit, and I think: “Why did I wait nearly 50 years to start releasing my own songs?” But then I realised that maybe I just needed to get myself into a relatively stable position, financially speaking… and that’s ok (!)
Wish we Philippa the very best of birthday celebrations. For further information on the artist, please visit the following links
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Photos by Leggy Christa Photo Lab, courtesy of Philippa Healey
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