About Philip Wade

Philip Wade is a professional composer, arranger, songwriter, and producer. His musical works span a wide spectrum of styles, from pop to classical, as well asmusical theater.He holds a B.S. in Composition from Louisiana State University. He also has a MA in Historyfrom Louisiana Tech, University andan MA in Theology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. His work, Fanfare –A Tribute to John Williams, was premiered by the Shreveport Symphony in 2018, and was a part of their concert featuring all John Williams music. He has had works published for choir, as well as the classical guitar. He is married to Carol Morris Wade. They have three grown children, Meredith, Mark, and John Philip.

Philip Wade”s first musical influence was in concert band while attending school in the small town of Farmerville,Louisiana. He played trombone from the fifth grade until the tenth. When the band director noticed him “beating on things,” and, since the band had plenty of trombonesbut lacked percussion, Philip switched to snare drum. While in high school band, he was introduced to the works of Clifton Williamsand immediately fell in love with his works. He began playing guitar in the seventh gradeandsubsequently formed a rock band which he was a part of through his college years. After two masters degrees, he decided that his love of music should be the focus ofhis life. He then entered LSU and majoredin composition. LSU proved to be a life-changing experience-an experience which would define him in the years to come. He studied composition with Dr. Paul Haydenand classical guitar with Elias Barreiroand Glen Caluda. His love of the church led him to write several large-scale sacred works including The Stone Rolled Awayand The Philippian Fragment. The Philippian Fragmentwas based on a book by the same title by the late Christian authorCalvin Miller. His musical influences include songwriters Alan Mencken, Burt Bacharach, and Jimmy Webb, as well asclassical composersMaurice Ravel, Dimitri Shostakovich and Aaron Copland. He has also been greatly influenced by thefilm composer, John Williams.

Philip served as Minister of Music at Cypress Baptist Church, in Benton Louisiana, for nearly thirty years. His creative interests also led him to produce two short films, as well as one major motion picture, The Wannabes (2016).