Hailed by Toronto’s Globe and Mail as “a superb piano partner….gorgeously accompanied”, pianist Steven Philcox is highly regarded as one of Canada’s finest collaborators and is a frequent partner of Canada’s vocal elite performing in concert halls both at home and abroad. From 1999-2010, Philcox was a celebrated member of the music staff of the Canadian Opera Company where he served as répétiteur and assistant conductor on more than 35 productions and was the pianist of choice for baroque and classical continuo. In 2006, Philcox distinguished himself in an auspicious debut conducting the company’s final performance of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte at the newly opened Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Other conducting credits with the company (as assistant conductor) include performances of Gounod’s Faust, Britten’s Albert Herring and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. 

Philcox is regularly invited to mentor young artists at prestigious training programs including: Opera on the Avalon, Vancouver International Song Institute, University Of Texas, Austin, Canadian Opera Company Studio Ensemble, Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy, Ukrainian Art Song Project Summer Institute, and the Centre for Operatic Studies in Italy. He is the director of the Art of Song program at Toronto Summer Music and has been an invited jury member for vocal and piano competitions throughout Canada. 

In 2011, Philcox co-founded the Canadian Art Song Project with tenor Lawrence Wiliford. CASP’s mission is to foster the development of new song through an annual commission and its performance as well as providing opportunities for Canadian artists to program and reinvigorate the existing song literature. Since its inception, CASP has brought together composers, writers, and performing artists in the creation of fifteen new works for voice and piano. It has released six CDs dedicated to the music of Derek Holman, John Greer, Healey Willan, Norbert Palej, and Jeffrey Ryan, all of which have been received with great critical acclaim including a JUNO nomination for Vocal/Choral recording of the year (Willan). Their newest recording Known to Dreamers: Black Voices in Canadian Song (featuring Philcox on the piano) was released February, 2024. For more information please visit: canadianartsongproject.ca 

Philcox has recorded for the Stone Records and Centrediscs labels. 

Philcox is currently Associate Professor and head of Collaborative Piano studies at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music.