St. Paul composer Philip Blackburn is a missionary for new music A champion of the unorthodox for three decades, St. Paul composer Philip Blackburn tackles a new challenge. By Rob Hubbard Special to the Star Tribune May 7, 2021 — 7:48am Text size Copy shortlink: Every art form is full of creative people trying to figure out how to make a living while continuing to create. Aspiring writers get jobs with bookstores and publishers. Visual artists work security at museums. For composer Philip Blackburn, it was a matter of figuring out what would keep him in contact with the new music milieu, the community of adventurous experimenters who take hidebound classical music traditions and forms, and twist them in all sorts of interesting directions.