Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Saint Louis native, Dr. Philip A. Woodmore has been an active member of the St. Louis music community for many years. Dr. Woodmore received his bachelors from Saint Louis University in Business Marketing and Music Vocal Performance, his masters from Webster University in Music Education, and his PhD in Music Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research interests are the changing voice, voice pedagogy, and the transformative power of music. His dissertation is on the transformative power of music in the choral setting using the auditioned choir in the Off-Broadway run of Antigone in Ferguson. Dr. Woodmore taught choir one year at Ferguson and Berkley Middle Schools in the Ferguson-Florissant School District and then became the choir director at Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood School District where he taught for 12 years. Along with his work in Rockwood, Dr. Woodmore was the Coordinator of the Voice Program at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) and the artist director of the Allegro Music Company from 2008-2017, the director of the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department Choir since 2009-2017, the director of the Northern Arizona University Gospel Choir from 2014-2017, Artist in Residency for the State of Arizona for a two year term 2016-2018, minister of music at Trinity Community Church from 1992-2018, and vocal coach for adults and children in St. Louis, Los Angeles, Phoenix and New York. In August 2016, Dr. Woodmore was asked to compose an original score of a version of Antigone translated by Bryan Doerries called Antigone in Ferguson which has been traveling the country for the past five years including a national university tour, Off-Broadway premiere, and international premiere in Athens, Greece. Since the success of Antigone in Ferguson, Dr. Woodmore has written an original score for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s last sermon The Drum Major Instinct and also for a speech by Frederick Douglass both premiered in New York. The Drum Major Instinct was also presented at several universities across the United States and was performed virtually on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2020 during the pandemic with two representatives from congress playing Dr. King. Dr. Woodmore joined the Muny family for the 2020 summer season and he is looking forward to a great partnership as the Music Director for Muny Kids for many seasons to come. During the pandemic Dr. Woodmore took the opportunity to document his journey through Antigone in Ferguson in his first book, “Antigone in Ferguson: A Journey Through the Transformative Power of Music,” available on Amazon and his website. This summer Dr. Woodmore was named as one of the newest board members for Prison Performing Arts. Dr. Woodmore is excited to join this team and share his passion for music with a new community in St. Louis, MO. In effort to create a space for our St. Louis community to mourn the loss of life during the pandemic, Dr. Woodmore collaborated with Washington University Professor, Rebecca Messbarger on an event in St. Louis called Requiem of Light. Dr. Woodmore was named the artistic director of the event and has written several original compositions that will premiere during this historic event in October 2021. This fall, Dr. Woodmore will take on another passion and begin a masters in psychology at Arizona State University.