studied at Cambridge University and then with Philip Cashian and David Sawer at the Royal Academy of Music, which elected him an Associate (ARAM) in 2016 for his contribution to composition. He completed his doctorate in 2016 while Doctoral Composer in Residence at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal Opera House with Julian Philips and James Weeks. He was a MacDowell Fellow in 2017 and 2024, Yaddo Fellow in 2023 and in the Opera Creation Workshop at Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2019.

Venables’s output covers opera, music theatre, multimedia and text-based concert works, sound installation and chamber music, with a strong emphasis on storytelling. Philip was featured composer at the 2021 Festival d’Automne in Paris, including a new large-scale sound installation for the church of Saint-Eustache, and in the same season made his professional conducting début, with the London Sinfonietta.

Venables’s first opera, the Olivier-nominated 4.48 Psychosis (Royal Opera, London, dir. Ted Huffman), was the first ever permitted adaptation of any of British playwright Sarah Kane’s work. The opera won the 2016 UK Theatre Award for Opera, the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Large-scale Composition and the 2017 British Composer Award for Stage Work, and was nominated for Olivier and Sky Arts South Bank Awards. Subsequent productions have taken place in New York City (Prototype Festival), Strasbourg (Opér aNational du Rhin), Dresden (Semperoper), Munich (Reaktorhalle / Bayerische Theaterakademie), Staatstheather Mainz, and the Philharmonie de Paris.

Venables’s second opera Denis & Katya (Opera Philadelphia, Music Theatre Wales, Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier), with director/dramatist Ted Huffman, won the 2019 Fedora Generali Prize for Opera and the 2020 Ivor Novello Award for Best Opera, was short listed for an International Opera Award, and was one of the most performed new operas worldwide in the last decade (Operabase).

Venables’s most recent opera, We Are The Lucky Ones (Dutch National Opera, Ruhrtriennale) with director/dramatist Ted Huffman and playwright Nina Segal, was premiered in March 2025 to 5-star reviews from the Dutch and international press.

Venables’s latest works for orchestra works have been performed at festivals including Huddersfield, Time of Music, November Music, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Rainy Days, Klang Festival and Musica Festival Strasbourg. Answer Machine Tape, 1987 was shortlisted for an Ivors Classical Award in 2023.

Venables collaborates extensively in cross-media work, including with artist Douglas Gordon on Bound to Hurt (HAU Theater Berlin, Kampnagel Sommerfestival Hamburg and Theater Basel); with drag/performance artist David Hoyle on Illusions (London Sinfonietta, UK New Music Biennial) and sound installation Canal Street (Manchester International Festival/Manchester Camerata); with violinist Pekka Kuusisto on Venables plays Bartók (BBC Proms/BBC Symphony Orchestra); and with Mahogany Opera and Ted Huffman on a “snappy opera” for children The Big History of Little England. His debut album Below the Belt was released on NMC in2018. His works are published by Opera Edition and Ricordi Berlin.

Selected works: Arc for symphony orchestra (2005), K (Prelude to Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet) for clarinet quintet (2006), Fight music for eight instruments (2009), Metamorphoses after Britten, four miniatures for oboe/clarinet/saxophone/bassoon (2010), Etudes for piano (2007–11), Flipp for two saxophones (2011), numbers 76–80: tristan and isolde for soprano, alto, tenor, bass and string quartet, to words by Simon Howard (2011), The Revenge of Miguel Cotto for two male vocalists, three violins, three trombones, accordion and two percussion playing punchbags, to poems by Steven J. Fowler (2013), Bound to hurt for female voice, flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, piano and viola (2015), Illusions (feat. David Hoyle) for video projection and nine musicians (2015), 4.48 Psychosis, opera for six voices, ensemble and video (2016), Alicefor tenor and piano (2018), Venables Plays Bartók for violin, stereo tape and symphony orchestra (2018), Denis & Katya, chamber opera for mezzo-soprano, baritone, four cellos and video (2019), My Favourite Piece is the Goldberg Variations for accordion (2021), Venables Plays Bach, 42-channel sound installation with live organ (2021), numbers 81–85 and numbers 96–100 for mezzo-soprano, alto flute, clarinet, string trio and optional video projection, to words by Simon Howard (2021), numbers 91–95 for speaking voice, two tape recorders, woodblock, flute, harp/piano/guitar, to words by Simon Howard (2021), Naomo Pinnetuo for violin (2022), Answer Machine Tape, 1987 for piano and video (2022), The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions multi-skilled ensemble cast of flexible size (2023), We Are The Lucky Ones, opera for eight performers and symphony orchestra (2025).