Dr. Harris serves as a voice faculty member of the Pre-College division and an adjunct professor in the music history and literature department at San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he created the first ever class on art songs by black composers. He is currently a soloist intensive voice instructor for the award winning Premier Ensemble of San Francisco Girls Chorus and is music director at Downs Memorial United Methodist Church. Other teaching affiliations include University of Nevada, Las Vegas (voice), West Valley College (Hip-Hop) Head-Royce School (voice/musical theater), Menlo School (Voice/musical theater),P.A.L.S. at the Aspen Music Festival, and Convent & Stuart Hall. 

 

An avid researcher on the classical songs of black composers, he has given lectures on the topic at Peabody Institute of The John Hopkins University, Westminster Choir College, University of California, Santa Cruz, Alabama State University, and San Francisco City College. Co-chair of Student Auditions for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he has held masterclasses at Alabama State University and Los Medanos College. His students have graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, placed in vocal competitions with NATS, Elite International Music Competition, American Protégé International Vocal Competition, and the Junior Bach Festival. Other students attend or have attended Oberlin Conservatory, Interlochen,Stagedoor Manor, and regularly perform in musicals around the bay area. Phillip earned voice degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Doctor of Musical Arts), the University of Michigan (Master of Music), and the University of California, Irvine (Bachelor of Music).