Biography

Philip Sarabura is a highly accomplished and distinguished musician with three areas of expertise. His early years at St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto provided him with the musical background, education and experience that would provide a solid foundation for a busy and successful career as a conductor, organist and violinist. 

Although he has conducted numerous orchestras and instrumental ensembles in Canada and the U.S., Philip earned his greatest reputation as a choral and orchestral conductor of exceptional accomplishment and ability through his leadership of the McMaster University Choir for 16 years as well as his leadership of Hamilton’s Bach Elgar Choir. He has conducted most of the standard repertoire for this combination, consistently to great critical, audience and musicians’ acclaim. 

Philip is also a distinguished organist. While attending St. Michael’s Choir School, he became one of the youngest recipients of an ARCT in organ performance. Since then, he has become a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (FRCCO), the highest earned professional certification for organists in Canada. Philip is Organist and Music Coordinator at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Ancaster, Ontario, a position he has held for over 30 years. 

In addition to his conducting and organist positions, Philip has had a long and successful career as a violinist. Although most of his work is within the orchestra, he has also been very busy as a soloist and chamber music player. Philip has been a member of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra since 1988, and he has four decades of experience with professional orchestras and ensembles across Canada. In April 2008, the Brantford Symphony Orchestra appointed Maestro Sarabura as its Artistic Director and Conductor. He is only the sixth Artistic Director in the modern BSO’s over sixty-year history.