Philip Rice

PHILIP RICE (b. 1988) is a composer of sacred and secular vocal and instrumental works. He has studied with Stefan Young (a student of Nadia Boulanger), David Gillingham, and has received additional instruction from composers including Sven-David Sandström, Tom Cipullo, Cindy McTee, andRoberto Sierra. He graduated with distinction from Westminster Choir College with a Master of Music in composition in 2012, and summa cum laude from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and theory in 2010. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Michigan State University.

He has won numerous awards for his compositions, among them awards fromChanticleer, The Kansas University Choral Society, SibeliusMusic.com, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Central Michigan University, Westminster Choir College, and others. Philip’s works have received performances by a variety of ensembles in the States and abroad.

As a performer, Philip is an accomplished tenor, and has sung under world-class conductors as a choral musician, including Andrew Megill (with the Westminster Kantorei), Steven Sametz (with the Princeton Singers), and Joe Miller (with the Westminster Symphonic Choir) along with major orchestral conductors including Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, and Jacques Lacombe. He studied organ under Steven Egler (a student of Robert Glasgow), piano with Alexandra Moscolo-David, and the art of handbell ringing with Kathleen Ebling-Shaw (protégé and successor of Donald E. Allured) whilst a member of the legendary Westminster Concert Handbell Choir.

He collects hourglasses, glass bottles, and picture frames; in his spare time he studies typography and divination.