John Phillips is an adjunct professor in the Bower School of Music, Florida Gulf Coast University teaching in the Department of Music Education. He served as Artistic Coordinator for the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra for the past three years.
Phillips has extensive experience judging band and brass band events across the globe, including North America, South America, Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan. He has adjudicated the NABBA Championships for the past two years and will serve as the Supervising Adjudicator for the 2024 NABBA Championships. He has also adjudicated the U.S. Open Brass Band Championships.
In demand as a clinician and consultant, Phillips shares his unique brand of music education through workshops with State and Provincial Music Educators’ Associations, the National Association for Music Education, and as a presenter at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Throughout his career, he has participated in multiple initiatives with Music for All including the National Concert Festival, the annual Summer Symposium, and the Bands of America Grand Nationals. He is a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician.
Besides a fulsome career as music educator in the public sector, Phillips taught at the University of Western Ontario where he conducted the Symphonic Band and taught music education and conducting courses. He also taught at the University of Toronto and York University.
Phillips is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario receiving undergraduate degrees in Music and Education. He pursued a master’s degree in Music Education at Boston University and a PhD in Ethnomusicology at York University. He holds an Artist Diploma in Trumpet Performance from the Western Conservatory of Music. He has received awards of distinction for conducting from the Ontario Band Association, Phi Beta Mu, and the Southern Ontario Band Festival. Other accolades include an Honorary Life Membership award from the Ontario Music Educators’ Association and Honorary Life Membership in the Tri M Music Honor Society and Ontario Band Association. Phillips has also received excellence in teaching awards at both the Faculty of Music and Education at the University of Western Ontario.
As a trumpeter, Phillips performed with Orchestra London, Brantford Symphony, the Forest City Brass Quintet and numerous freelance engagements. He spent two summers at the Banff School of Fine Arts under the leadership of the Canadian Brass, studying with Fred Mills and Ronald Romm.
