Conductor · Music Educator · Researcher

Phillip Scott
Wyant, DMA

Director of Bands at Clearfield Area Junior-Senior High School, Wyant leads concert, marching, jazz, and chamber musicians while researching occupational identity among K–12 band directors. He believes music can put everything else on hold and create space for attention, connection, and shared experience.

Explore conducting Research & writing

Phillip Scott Wyant holding a conductor's baton

Conductorto shared sound.

Music takes shape where preparation, communication, and human connection meet.

Conducting

The podium is the center of the story.

Leadership in service of the music.

Phillip Wyant's professional work brings together conducting, ensemble leadership, and music teaching. The performances, repertoire, images, and recording below reflect a conducting practice grounded in preparation, gesture, and ensemble connection.

Phillip Wyant conducting from the podium

Performance

Leading from the podium

Gesture, listening, and shared purpose turn preparation into performance.

Phillip Wyant leading a marching band in a winter parade

Ensemble leadership

On stage and in motion

Building musical communities across concert and marching traditions.

Recent programming

2024–2026

Thirteen works spanning contemporary voices and established wind-band literature.

Selected repertoire

Recent concert programming

2024

Among the CloudsBrian Balmages
CenotaphJack Stamp
Down a Country LaneAaron Copland
Irish Tune from County DerryPercy Grainger
K2: “The Savage Mountain”Julie Giroux

2025

Choose JoyRandall Standridge
ShenandoahFrank Ticheli
UndertowJohn Mackey
First Suite in E-flatGustav Holst

2026

The Bonsai TreeJulie Giroux
English Folk Song SuiteRalph Vaughan Williams
Loch LomondFrank Ticheli
SteelRandall Standridge

Selected performance

Overture for Winds

Charles Carter
Greater Harrisburg Concert Band
Parmer Hall · Messiah College

Watch performance on YouTube

Selected media

More from the podium and the program.

Explore the media gallery

Phillip Wyant conducting a concert band on stage — Concert performance

Bison Band color guard and musicians entering at sunset — Program in motion

The Bison Band marching across a bridge during a community parade — Community tradition

Musicianship

Beyond the podium

Musicianship grounded in collaboration.

Wyant remains active as a collaborative and theatrical musician. Performing alongside students keeps his teaching and conducting rooted in listening, responsiveness, and the shared responsibility of ensemble music-making.

Phillip Wyant performing drum set and percussion in a theatre pit ensemble — Theatre musicianshipPerforming from the pit.

Collaborative piano

Clearfield junior and senior high choirs

Piano performance in support of the district's secondary choral program.

Theatre pit

Clearfield drama productions

Percussion and drum-set performance for school theatrical productions.

Selected pit productions

The Pirates of Penzance
Crazy for You
Little Shop of Horrors
Beauty and the Beast
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Addams Family
Tarzan
Anastasia
Matilda
Mamma Mia!
Guys and Dolls

About

Artist. Teacher. Scholar.

A professional identity shaped in practice.

Phillip Scott Wyant, DMA, is a conductor, music educator, and researcher who believes that music can put everything else on hold—creating a space in which musicians and audiences can listen, connect, and become fully present. Equally at home conducting instrumental musicians at any stage of development, he approaches the podium as a place where musical artistry, education, leadership, and community meet.

Wyant has served the Clearfield Area School District continuously since 2015, working across its two buildings. He began in the district’s K–6 building as Director of Elementary Bands and Sixth Grade Choir. In 2023, he was appointed Director of Bands for grades 7–12, becoming the eighth director in the program’s nearly hundred-year history. He directs the junior and senior high concert ensembles, the Bison Marching Band, junior high marching band, junior high jazz band, and Thunderin’ Herd Jazz Band, while also coaching student-led chamber ensembles.

Under Wyant’s leadership, Clearfield students have advanced to Pennsylvania All-State ensembles and qualified for NAfME regional-level ensembles. His work emphasizes musical independence, ensemble connection, and programming that brings contemporary voices into conversation with established wind-band literature. He also serves as steward of the Bison Marching Band’s storied tradition of excellence, which includes repeated invitations to the 500 Festival Parade in Indianapolis, as well as award-winning appearances in the Kentucky Derby Parade, Apple Blossom Festival Parade, New York Veterans Day Parade, Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, and Main Street, USA at Walt Disney World.

Wyant earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts in 2026. He holds a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from Messiah College and a Bachelor of Science in Education in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated summa cum laude from the Robert E. Cook Honors College. His conducting development included private study with Jack Stamp, Jason Worzbyt, and Shannon Kitelinger, along with symposium study with Bradley Genevro, Craig Kirchhoff, and Mallory Thompson. His research examines occupational identity among K–12 band directors, including the distinct role of “Podium Identity.” In 2026, he was elected secretary of District 4 of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.

Phillip Wyant with a student musician at a conference — Celebrating student achievement beyond the rehearsal room.

Research

Research & writing

How does the job shape the director?

Wyant studies occupational identity among K–12 band directors, with particular attention to how teaching assignment, grade level, socialization, and role expectations influence professional identity and career plans.

DMA dissertation · Boston University · 2026

Elementary Band Directors’ Occupational Identity

Drawing on a nationwide survey of in-service band directors who teach in elementary settings, Wyant examined how professional context shapes the identities educators hold as teachers, musicians, conductors, and directors. The study identified “Podium Identity” as a distinct dimension of occupational identity and found that grade-level assignment, the number of buildings served, age, and teaching experience were among the factors associated with how participants understood their professional roles.

The findings suggest that conditions common in elementary band positions can contribute to identity misalignment, and that weaker podium and teacher identities may accompany a greater desire for career change. For teacher educators and school leaders, the study points toward authentic early experience in elementary ensemble teaching, thoughtful assignment design, and greater attention to the professional identities of music educators.

Read the complete dissertation

Future article

When Context Becomes Identity

Occupational Identity Among K–12 Band Directors

Manuscript in development

Future article

Podium Identity

A Distinct Dimension of Occupational Identity Among Band Directors