Figure

Frederick Waxman is a conductor and multi-instrumentalist from London. He read Experimental Psychology at University College, Oxford, where he was an Academic Exhibitioner, Instrumental Scholar, and Choral Scholar. He then completed an MMus in Performance at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, as well as further musical studies as a harpsichordist with James Johnstone and Carole Cerasi. Frederick performs music across a range of genres and has performed on stages from the Wiener Musikverein and Opera Holland Park, to Latitude Festival. 

In 2021, Frederick founded Figure in order to pursue his passion for historically-informed performance. Figure's inaugural concert, a performance of Bach's St John Passion at St Bartholomew the Great, was a sell-out with Michael Church, critic for The Independent, writing that the performance "raised the hairs on the back of the neck… the work took wing, with [Figure] magnificently delivering its climactic moments of terror and joy… The whole performance had a thrilling immediacy”. Since then, Frederick has led Figure in performances of Mozart's Gran Partita at Barts Great Hall, Requiems by Fauré and Charpentier at Union Chapel, an immersive performance of Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri at the Swiss Church in London (★★★★ The Times), and two productions at Opera Holland Park. The first of these was Handel’s Serse in 2022, a collaboration with director Sam Rayner which prompted The Guardian to describe Figure as one to watch. In 2023, he conducted a production of Shakespeare / Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream featuring Ray Fearon as Oberon and T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poet, Joelle Taylor, playing Puck. Prior to founding Figure, Frederick staged Britten's Curlew River, which was praised as “a pearl of a production” by Richard Bratby of The Spectator, and “a dedicated and moving production” by Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph.

Besides musical direction and performing, Frederick composes and arranges music for theatre and film. Theatre highlights include Timetravellers at Teatr Lesi (Lviv, Ukraine), Five Years With The White Man (VAULT Festival), and AMERICA! with Voloz Collective for Ars Nova’s AntFest in New York. He has toured the UK and internationally with Voloz in their Theatre Weekly award-winning show The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much.

Philip is a professional choral singer, concert curator and family worker from Lincolnshire, who is passionate about broadening access to Classical music and historical performance. Philip read Music at King's College, Cambridge where he was also a Choral Scholar, and he now studies singing with Robert Rice. As a tenor, Philip performs regularly at churches and cathedrals throughout London, as well as with Figure, and he is one of the regular singers at St Mary Brookfield.

With Figure, Philip's intimate production of Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri, THIS IS MY BODY, was praised by The Times (★★★★) as "a display of real quality... [Figure] gave us that whole-hearted performance, enveloping us in glorious sound.” Alongside his work with Figure, Philip has co-curated two editions of Echolocate, an event held in total darkness at the Peckham gallery space, Staffordshire St, where he has performed and directed his own compositions and arrangements.

Outside music, Philip is a family worker with Camden Council. In this work, he supports families throughout the borough, collaborating closely with local schools, the NHS, Police, and third-sector organisations to galvanise stronger networks around them and advocate for their interests. Prior to this role, he worked as a primary school teacher in Enfield, where he developed a passion for pastoral work and mental health support.

Philip has previously worked for City Music Foundation and for BBC Radio 3, where he worked as an Assistant Producer on both Essential Classics and In Tune. Whilst there, he also created and produced a special mixtape celebrating the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, which was first broadcast on Christmas Day 2017. The mixtape, which was aired alongside a programme retracing Bach's youthful walk to visit Buxtehude, aimed to imagine an elderly Bach reflecting on his life's work and musical output – all in just under 30 minutes!

Before going to university, Philip was a Choral Scholar at Truro Cathedral, during which time he developed his love for education and musical outreach in his role as a Sing Up ambassador, teaching singing in primary schools throughout Cornwall. A life-long Bach fan, Philip is the proud owner of a facsimile of the famous 1748 Haussmann portrait and he recently gave a lecture on the St John Passion. 

Philip became Co-Artistic Director of Figure in September 2022.