Captain Philip R. Emory is the Flight Commander for The United States Air Force Band, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C. He serves as the Officer-in-Charge for the Air Force Strings, Singing Sergeants and Marketing & Outreach. He is responsible to the Band commander for functional oversight of operations, logistics, publicity and resource management to enable the success of the 184-member unit to accomplish nearly 1,600 missions each year.
Originally from Mesa, Arizona, Capt. Emory began studying violin at four years old. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in church music and viola from Bob Jones University in 2005. After college Capt. Emory traveled nationally and internationally for three years serving as a string player and audio engineer for an evangelistic ministry led by Dr. Steve Pettit. He later attended the University of South Carolina to pursue conducting and viola studies, culminating in a Master of Music degree in conducting in 2010, and a Graduate Performance Certificate in Viola in 2013. His primary conducting mentors have been Larry Wyatt and Donald Portnoy with additional studies to include notable teachers such as Markand Thakar, Gustav Meier, Mark Gibson, and Donald Schleicher.
As an educator Capt. Emory has instructed symphony orchestras at the pre-college and collegiate level. In addition he has served as a music director for church ministries in Georgia and Wisconsin before entering the Air Force. He has previously held the position of assistant conductor of the Spartanburg Philharmonic, and assistant to the director of the Greenville County Youth Orchestra in Greenville, South Carolina. As a string player he has performed with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Spartanburg Philharmonic, South Carolina Philharmonic, and Symphony Orchestra of Augusta.
EDUCATION:
2005 Bachelor of Arts - Church Music & Viola, Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC
2010 Master of Music - Choral Conducting, University of South Carolina
2013 Graduate Performance Certificate - Viola, University of South Carolina