Paul was born in London. It was as a singer that his musical abilities were first noticed, and on the advice of his preparatory school music teacher, he auditioned for the Purcell School, a specialist music school, where, over the course of seven years, he studied piano, violin, clarinet and, albeit briefly, trumpet and trombone. At the age of 15, having never really settled with any of these instruments, he took up timpani and percussion and has never looked back.

He continued his studies at Trinity College of Music, London. Whilst still a student, Paul became the Timpani and Percussion tutor at Dulwich College Preparatory School, and the Benenden School for Girls (both in Kent). He took a one- year sabbatical from his studies, and teaching responsibilities to become President of Trinity College of Music Students’ Union. Having completed his postgraduate studies he began working as a freelance musician in the UK and abroad.Over the years he has performed with many professional orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, BBC Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, the CBSO, the Hallé, Royal Philharmonic, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Qatar Philharmonic and Auckland Philharmonia, to name but a few.

Music has taken him to the USA, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Norway, Bulgaria and New Zealand before he accepted the position as founding Section Principal Timpani with the then newly formed Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) in Kuala Lumpur. During his time in Malaysia, and in addition to his duties as a performer, Paul maintained a close association with the Education and Outreach department of the MPO, delivering individual lessons, coaching the Youth Orchestra, and undertaking masterclasses, & workshops. He toured Singapore, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Australia, Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia with the orchestra, and has collaborated with the celebrated Malaysian ensembles “HANDS Percussion”, and “Rhythm in Bronze” on multiple occasions.

Since his departure from the MPO in 2012, Paul has continued to perform and educate in both Asia, and Europe and also toured the USA and South America with the Philharmonia Orchestra with Esa-Pekka Salonen and Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 2015 he became the founding Principal Timpanist of the Chineke! Orchestra (the very first majority Ethnically Diverse ensemble to be established within Europe). He also took up the chair as Principal Timpanist with the Orchestra of Opera North UK, and, most notably, performed Wagner’s mammoth Ring Cycle six times, in completion, during the spring and summer of 2016.

Having served with Opera North for almost three years, Paul moved to Glasgow, and became the Section Principal Timpanist of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (serving as a Player-Director between 2020 & 2023). He is also a timpani tutor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and currently sits on the Board of Trustees for the “Association of British Orchestras” (ABO) and “Sistema Scotland”. In addition, Paul sits on the advisory Board for “Direct Mediation Services” (DMS) and “The Culture Exchange”. During 2020 Paul hosted a number of radio programmes for Scala Radio, including a series of special daily features for the complete duration of Black History Month. His role as Principal Timpanist with the Chineke! Orchestra continues.

Paul was awarded an MBE for services to music in H.M. the Queen’s birthday Honours List that was published on 10th October 2020.

See Paul Philbert perform Matthew Rooke’s Tamboo Bamboo with the RSNO on 24 & 25 October 2025.