BIOGRAPHY

McKayla Phillips is a percussionist and educator based out of North Carolina. They are currently the Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Winston-Salem State University & Shaw University. McKayla has been a guest clinician at universities, high schools, and conferences across the country, and has participated in numerous performances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC).

McKayla is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where they serve as a graduate teaching assistant. They earned a Master of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and received a Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Music Performance degrees from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. McKayla is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, NAfME, NCAE, College Music Society, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and serves on the PAS Diversity Alliance.

An avid proponent of new music, they have recently premiered and/or commissioned works by Annika Socolofsky, Nick Werth, Russell Wharton, Von Hansen, Ivan Trevino, Michael Burritt, Robert Honstein, Katherine Bodor, Rob Rankin, and Isaac Pyatt. McKayla has performed at the 2019 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) with their Indiana-based chamber group, InBloom Percussion, the 2018 Indiana University Percussion Ensemble, the 2015 PAS All-Star Ensemble, and the 2015 UNCG Percussion Ensemble. McKayla has also performed with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, and the Greensboro Opera. 

Their teachers have included Eric Willie, Joseph Gramley, Steve Houghton, Kevin Bobo, Michael Spiro, John Tafoya, Brevan Hampden, Atiba Rorie, Thomas Taylor, Joe Galvin, Neeraj Mehta, Kristopher Keeton, Peter Zlotnick, Naomi Marcus, and Christopher Fosnaugh.

McKayla Phillips proudly endorses Black Swamp Percussion and Innovative Percussion.