Phillip Leslie Wilcher (born 16 March 1958) is an Australian pianist and composer who was a founding member of the children's music group the Wiggles. When Wilcher published his first work, "Daybreak", at the age of 14, he was one of the youngest classical composers in Australia.
Wilcher has published over 100 piano-related works and has performed both solo and with ensembles. Rita Crews for The Studio Quarterly Magazine described his style as "free-flowing, with an underlying romantic character, one in which melodic line and lyricism are all-important elements". His music has been broadcast by radio stations ABC-FM and 2MBS-FM – the latter has aired two documentaries, Wilcher and the French Connection and Wilcher's World.
Family and personal life Phillip Leslie Wilcher was born to Naomi Joy Thompson (8 April 1929 – 21 June 2005) and Leslie James Wilcher (16 January 1923 – 20 August 2022), a World War II veteran. Wilcher grew up in Camperdown. As of 2004, he resided in Concord and owns no cell phone, watch, or car: "My entire life since I was a boy was writing music and that has overshadowed everything. I would be happy living in an oversized cardboard box with a piano and a blank sheet of manuscript paper".
Career Early years Wilcher started piano lessons at the age of eight; his first teachers were Gladys Woodward and Jean Teasel. His interest in composing music began at an early age, before his teens. At the age of 14, Wilcher published his first piano composition, "Daybreak", with the Sydney-based music company, J. Albert & Son, making him the then-youngest published composer in Australia. The track was later recorded in 2006 by John Martin on his CD, Ancient Rivers.
It was around that time Richard Gill awarded Wilcher a prize in the City of Sydney Eisteddfod for a work titled 'Autumn Mists'. Wilcher had entered it along with four other pieces, a Barcarolle, a Rhapsody, an Etude (which Gill praised as a "noble effort" that "rivaled Chopin's Etude Opus 10 No. 4 in its ideas and difficulty") and a smaller study he likened to the Opus 110 by Brahms, in both style and difficulty. In his autobiography 'Thinking Allowed' Wilcher recalls: "He was very kind to me, and encouraged me to continue on, suggesting – even foretelling – that mine was a name worth remembering".
For seven years, after he published "Daybreak", Wilcher was a student of composer and musicologist, Franz Holford, who was an editor at J. Albert & Son; he later composed music with Holford for over twenty years. One of the many highlights during Wilcher's student years with Holford was a meeting with Fernando Germani who was organist of the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome during the reign of Pope Pius XII. Germani was visiting with Holford at his home in the Sydney suburb of Hunters Hill where the young Wilcher played for him Chopin's Mazurka in B♭ minor, Op. 24 No. 4. At the end of his performance, Germani was so moved by what he had heard he shed a tear. Wilcher's piano piece, "Autumn Rain", was published when he was 17, by J. Albert & Son. He also studied with classical musicians Neta Maughan and Elpis Liossatos, and began a thirty-year association with composer Miriam Hyde. Hyde is quoted as saying of Wilcher: "I find great satisfaction in the fact that we - Australia - have one composer who can succeed in a medium of sensitivity in spite of the ugliness and violence predominating in so many countries". In 1976 Wilcher became an assistant editor for J. Albert & Son's Classical/Educational Division. These were formative years for Wilcher, not only because of his work in the classical/educational department but the world of pop/rock music as well. Through his work at Alberts, Wilcher came to know Vanda and Young, Bon Scott from AC/DC and particularly, Marc Hunter of Dragon. Wilcher on Marc Hunter: "At that time, I had no idea who he [Marc Hunter] was! Neither did he elaborate much on himself. We just spoke as if we were friends and true to his word, whenever he was at Alberts to record, he would always visit with me, and talk about music. Marc was a gentleman through and through and nothing short of stylish. After leaving Alberts in 1979, I never really saw him again, but my memory of him was such that when decades later he died, I cried. I will still shed a tear for him from time to time. He was a good man; someone I will never forget".
During the 1980s he worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). According to Wilcher's autobiography, it was while working at the ABC Wilcher came into contact with American Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Ned Rorem, who was to prove a major influence upon Wilcher's way of thinking, and how he considered creativity one's primary purpose for being. As Rorem had once written Wilcher: "The meaning of Life is to seek Life's meaning". Although musically they are of different worlds, Wilcher considers Rorem a mentor. The two shared a correspondence spanning over 30 years. Rorem to Wilcher: "Meanwhile, get your work done, there are too few people who know (as you and I know) what they want to do and how to do it".
Also in the 1980s, Wilcher developed a kinship with the friends and family of American pianist, Liberace, visiting them many times in Las Vegas. On his return to Australia after first visiting the US in May 1989, where he played for a celebration honouring Liberace's birthday at the Desert Inn, Wilcher received a letter of appreciation dated 6 July 1989 from Vince Fronza, who had read the eulogy at Liberace's funeral two years earlier. Fronza to Wilcher "We managed a visit to Lee's (Liberace's) grave, and I touched that part of the mausoleum where his body is, spoke softly telling him of meeting you, and that we know he arranged it".
It was through Vince Fronza in May 1992, that Wilcher met and befriended Ruby Keeler, (August 25, 1909 – February 28, 1993) the American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros. particularly, 42nd Street, and was Al Jolson's wife. Less than a year later, when Ruby Keeler died, Wilcher was to publish his own obituary honouring her in a local newspaper - the Western Suburbs Courier. In a remembrance titled 'Memories are like Ruby's", Wilcher wrote: Last year, while performing in the United States for the Liberace Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts, I had the pleasure of dining with the legendary Ruby Keeler who died last weekend. She was Al Jolson's wife and held her own exact and satellite place in the expanse of 20th century theatre and film. The only thing unknown to me was the woman herself. Unpretentiously elegant in her summer frock and hat, she looked up at me from her table with Picasso eyes and smiled. I sensed there was an innate and articulate goodness about her. Like gold-plate on silver, this alone is worth remembering, for this alone was Ruby Keeler.
The Wiggles and children's music career In the late 1980s, Wilcher began working in the Macquarie University early childhood music program. During his years of employment at Macquarie University's Institute of Early Childhood, Wilcher was invited by music lecturer Emily App to conduct a guest-tutorial/master class, centred around the art of Music and music-making for children. Emily App wrote of Wilcher's class: "Students were amazed. I think it took their level of thinking about music to greater heights". Likewise, the Dean, Alan Rice commented: "The enthusiasm of the master class and the student was very encouraging and a tribute to your commitment and expertise. It is only occasionally that we experience these peaks in our daily activities."
In 1990, Wilcher met Anthony Field, former member of the Australian rock group the Cockroaches, who was studying child development. According to Wilcher, Field asked him to help them record their self-titled debut album. Wilcher claims that he "contributed the most musically to the debut album", composing 75% of the music. The album included another piece he had composed at 14, "Summer Dance", which appeared on the album as "Archie's Theme". Wilcher was nicknamed Archie due to his admiration of Liberace. He performed in two of the group's videos, "Get Ready to Wiggle" and "Dorothy the Dinosaur".
In 1992, Wilcher left the Wiggles. Their spokesperson, Dianna O'Neill, claims that he submitted a letter of resignation because he wanted to continue composing classical music. It was not until 26 November 1992, that Wilcher signed a Consumer Affairs Statement of Change in Persons Document - Registration No: M09577-8 - sent to him by Jeff Fatt. Jeff Fatt gives the release date as 6 July 1992, but due to house renovations he was involved in at that time, and despite repeated requests from Wilcher to Fatt, Fatt did not forward the document for signing to Wilcher until 26 November 1992.
According to fellow founding member Greg Page, "Archie had considerable input into the arrangement of some songs on that first CD ... he is quite a musical genius ... However ... the musical direction of the Wiggles was changing". Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) awarded the band members, including Wilcher, with gold and platinum certificates for the album. In two letters dated 21 April and 24 May 1995, to ABC Enterprises, Wilcher addressed certain concerns about his involvement with The Wiggles. Wilcher claims he was advised by Jeremy Fabinyi to write a letter of resignation so to officially release him from incurring any expenses for albums subsequent to the debut album. It had nothing to do with Wilcher leaving the group as a composer/writer for which he claims he had a verbal agreement.
In 1993, Wilcher published a lesson plan for early childhood activities, A Musical Offering. The Australian composer and music educator, Dulcie Holland remarked: "Phillip Wilcher's 'A Musical Offering' is an ingenious and imaginative approach to music. Through rhythm and rhyme, movement and sound, the very young person is gently introduced to music as an enjoyable activity. This will provide a wonderful foundation for a lifetime of musical experience and richness". Holland would later set Wilcher's poem 'Sounds and Silence' from 'A Musical Offering' for women's choir. It was premiered by the Faye Dumont Singers and later published by EMI. Further praise for Wilcher's "A Musical Offering" came from principal Early Childhood lecturers Rosemary Harle: "It is refreshing to find Phillip Wilcher composing quality music for this very special market. A Musical Offering is so very appropriate for the young and commendable for its originality and captivating melodies". and Laurie Le Claire, who wrote: "I am delighted with this music. It will appeal to children of all ages, and will challenge them in exciting ways. Phillip has a keen sense of the developing musical perceptions of children".
In 2000, for reasons not entirely clear, the Wiggles had not only rerecorded their first album, but also renamed it "Wiggle Time" and removed all of his compositions. In 2005, when the Wiggles had become Australia's most successful children's act, he seemed to criticise the Wiggles in the press, but he has since stated that reporters had misrepresented him and that he chose to remain silent in the aftermath of their articles.
Classical career