William Philipson

William Philipson is a New Zealand composer and music editor based in Wellington, Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Since 2023, he has served as the composer for Shortland Street, one of New Zealand’s longest-running and most-watched television dramas, where he has scored over three-hundred episodes.

In 2024 he was commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Ballet to compose the score for their ballet Dazzlehands, based on the New Zealand children’s book of the same name. The show played to packed out performances in July.

In the world of film music, his 2021 climate-based feature documentary High Tide Don’t Hide was shown in New Zealand parliament hosted by politician Chloë Swarbrick the day after a climate emergency was declared. The film then played in cinemas across New Zealand during the 2021 Doc Edge Film Festival. The film was also selected for the 2021 Hawai‘i International Film Festival, and was then shown on TVNZ+, Whakaata Māori, and PBS in the United States. He also co-composed the score for the 2020 horror comedy feature film Dead, with composers Tom McLeod and James Euringer. The film had a wide theatre release in New Zealand, before being released by TVNZ+.

Outside of screen music, his 2023 string quartet Observations I & II, was recorded by members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and in 2022, he released a solo album Portraits.

Philipson holds a Master of Fine Arts in film scoring from Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington. He has received notable awards, including the 48 Hour Film Festival National Best Music Award in 2024, an APRA Professional Development Award in 2022, and the Susan Rhind Award in Composition 2017. He is an active member of CANZ, SOUNZ, and serves as the secretary of the Screen Music & Sound Guild of New Zealand.