Phil Bywater (he/him) was born and raised in nipaluna/Hobart, and recently returned after 30 years in Naarm/Melbourne as a performing musician, composer, arranger and arts worker. He has toured extensively nationally and internationally and released 3 independent albums with his ensembles Phil Bywater’s Buried Treasure, Fallingwater Trio, and Big Fela Afrobeat Orchestra. 

Phil has performed live with an array of Australia’s finest musicians, also appearing regularly on radio and television. His performance experience is diverse, encompassing reggae, funk, jazz, afrobeat, world music, free improv, punk, rock, and contemporary classical music. He has worked prolifically with First Nations musicians, as a key member of the Bart Willoughby Band, Blaktivism and Pasifix house bands, and Sorong Samarai.

Phil was a key member of the board of the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival from 2005-2009, and was a board member, curator and publicist for the Make It Up Club improvised music series from 2004-2007. 

From 2014 – 2023, Phil worked at Collarts (the Australian College of the Arts), and from 2021- 2023, creating and leading their Music Theory department, and also developed and ran Collarts’ pioneering Online Music Performance degree and diploma programmes. He has also lectured at Melbourne University, the University of Tasmania, AIM (the Australian Institute of Music), and JMC Academy.