Phillip Haines
Phillip Haines (Las Vegas, NV) recently retired after a 40-year teaching career spanning fifth grade through the university level, including instruction of aspiring music educators. Haines taught for 35 years in Nevada, beginning his career in Arizona. His bands earned regional and national recognition for consistent excellence. He commissioned works by award winning composers Philip Sparke and Jorge Machaín, conducting the premiere performances of these compositions, along with world premieres of works by Johan de Meij.
His Sierra Vista High School Band remains the only marching band from the state of Nevada to be honored as a Bands of America Regional Champion.
Haines is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator. He has conducted numerous honor bands throughout the Southwest and adjudicates for organizations including Bands of America, Drum Corps International, and state music organizations across the country, including championship level adjudication in states such as Kentucky, California, and Michigan. He has adjudicated at the Drum Corps International Championships on three occasions, most recently in 2025.
Haines was recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Nevada Music Educators Association and is a past recipient of the Nevada Music Educator of the Year award. He has been an invited clinician for the Nevada Music Educators Conference on seven occasions, most recently in spring 2026. He has also served as an associate professor in the music education program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and as conductor of the Las Vegas Youth Orchestra’s Philharmonic Orchestra, the top ensemble of the organization’s four orchestras.
Haines lives in Henderson, Nevada, with his wife and two children, all of whom are also educators.