Philip J. Kuehn
Conductor & Co-Director, Performance Music
Phil Kuehn is in his first year as Conductor & Co-Director of Performance Music at The University of Scranton. He recently performed at The White House with Jonathan Batiste for President Biden's first State Dinner, and has performed, recorded, broadcasted, and/or toured with Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, Jonathan Batiste, Branford Marsalis, Khristian Dentley of Take 6, Cyrille Aimee, Randy Brecker, Veronica Swift, Anthony Hamilton, Dr. Billy Taylor, Roy Hargrove, Kurt Whalum, Emmett Cohen, The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Kyle Athayde Dance Party, and many others.
Formerly the regular bassist for Jonathan Batiste’s groups, including the “Stay Human” band, Kuehn has made several guest appearances on the Late Show with Steven Colbert. Five of his arrangements for strings and choir appear on “Christmas with Jon Batiste”. Those arrangements have been featured on CBS, and the album placed #3 on the Billboard Jazz chart and #1 on the Heatseeker's chart. His bass playing was featured on Disney/Pixar’s Grammy/Oscar/Golden Globe-winning movie “Soul,” the soundtrack of which won a Grammy for Best Soundtrack, and he also recorded on Batiste’s Grammy-nominated album “Anatomy of Angels - Live at the Village Vanguard.” He has appeared on ABC’s “The View” with Tony Bennett, at the White House with Dr. Billy Taylor, with Anthony Hamilton at the Sundance Film Festival, and collaborated with Quincy Jones on an extensive arrangement of “Ode to Joy” for the Beethoven Orchester Bonn’s performance in Germany for Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary.
His research is featured in “Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz, Vol. 2”, compiled by Ronald Carter and Richard Miles, in which he wrote a teacher resource guide on Duke Ellington’s Sepia Panorama. Phil also completed a 24-song transcription portfolio of pre-1960 songs for Harry Connick, Jr., served as director of the Snow College Jazz Summit and Snow College Summer Jazz Workshop from 2014-2022, and as vice president of the Jazz Education Network - Utah Chapter. He has been a guest conductor and clinician for music education festivals, including local, regional, and All-State ensembles, such as the Utah Music Educator’s Association’s All-State Jazz Ensemble and the Las Vegas Jazz Invitational, among others. He currently serves as a clinician with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Program.”
Kuehn came to Scranton from Snow College in Utah, where he served as a tenured Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies. He studied with Dwayne Dolphin and Jeff Mangone in Pittsburgh before attending The Juilliard School where he studied with Ben Wolfe and David Grossman for his Bachelor of Music degree, and with Ron Carter for his Master of Music degree. A native of western PA, he hails from a family of musician/educators and arrived as no stranger to Scranton, having performed on campus several times with various guest artist ensembles.