Phil Bingham is a New Jersey-based pianist, conductor, educator, and music consultant whose distinguished career reflects a lifelong dedication to musical excellence, teaching, and spiritual leadership. With deep roots in jazz, sacred music, and arts education, he is widely respected for the breadth of his musicianship and for his enduring commitment to guiding students, audiences, and communities through the power of music.
Bingham attended the High School of Music & Art and later earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Nyack College, laying the foundation for a career that would seamlessly unite performance, instruction, and mentorship. Over the years, he has become known not only as a gifted pianist, but also as a thoughtful conductor, skilled arranger, and inspiring teacher whose work crosses artistic, educational, and spiritual spheres.
His professional life has included extensive work in music education. For many years, Bingham served as a teaching artist in New York City public schools, where he helped nurture young musicians and foster meaningful musical experiences for students from diverse backgrounds. He later served as choir director at the John F. Kennedy School in Newark, a program for students with special needs, bringing sensitivity, discipline, and creativity to an educational setting that called for both musical skill and deep compassion. Throughout his career, his work as an educator has reflected a belief in music as a transformative force—one that can uplift, connect, and empower.
In sacred music, Bingham has long been recognized for his leadership and service. He holds the title of Minister of Music Emeritus at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York, a role that speaks to his lasting impact in church music and worship leadership. His approach to ministry through music is grounded in intention, depth, and spiritual authenticity, and he is especially noted for his emphasis on “intentional worship” and on music’s unique ability to reach beyond the intellectual and speak directly to the heart.
A devoted student and close associate of the legendary Barry Harris, Bingham has also played an important role in preserving and advancing one of the most important jazz teaching legacies of the modern era. He serves as Vice-President and founding board member of the Barry Harris Institute of Jazz, an organization dedicated to sustaining and sharing Harris’s profound methodology and musical philosophy. His connection to that work is both personal and artistic, shaped by years of study, collaboration, and service.
Bingham has been a member of the Barry Harris Chorus since the late 1980s, and he continues to contribute to workshops and musical programs that bridge jazz, worship, and community expression. He has also served as cover conductor for the Barry Harris 50-Year Concert Retrospective, further reflecting the trust placed in his musicianship and leadership within that circle. His involvement in these efforts highlights his unique ability to move fluidly between the worlds of performance, education, and musical stewardship.
As a musician, Phil Bingham is recognized for a style and philosophy that draw meaningful connections between bebop, gospel roots, and sacred music. His work is shaped by a deep understanding of musical tradition and by a desire to communicate something lasting and human through sound. Whether performing solo piano, directing ensembles, leading workshops, or serving in worship settings, he brings a sense of clarity, warmth, and purpose to everything he does.
He has performed in New York City venues and cultural settings in a variety of contexts, including live piano engagements and appearances connected to jazz and educational events. Across each of these settings, Bingham is valued not only for his artistry, but for the spirit of generosity, depth, and integrity he brings to the music.
Phil Bingham’s career stands as a testament to the enduring role of music as an art form, a discipline, a form of ministry, and a means of transformation. Through performance, teaching, conducting, and leadership, he has devoted his life to preserving tradition, inspiring others, and building bridges between musical excellence and human connection.
Phil Bingham has released recorded work under his own name, including the 2010 album Quiet Zone – Silence Is Speaking.
Billy Taylor was Phil Bingham’s first Piano teacher at Jazzmobile circa 1969. Phil’s Jazzmobile piano faculty included Billy Taylor, Billy Gault, Norman Simmons, Kenny Barron and Barry Harris. Patti Bown, Walter Bishop, Jr and Ronnie Matthews were also Phil’s substituting Jazzmobile Piano teachers. Phil Bingham is also an alumnus of Jazzmobile, piano class where he distinguished Dr. Billy Taylor. himself as Jazzmobile Workshop Orchestra/big band pianist. The Jazzmobile Workshop Orchestra debuted original compositions by Frank Foster, Ernie Wilkins and Jimmy Heath.
Mr. Bingham’s’ piano course of piano study included integrated piano courses and studies with Kathleen Buswell, Jan Gorbaty, David Brandon and Sophia Roswell. Intensive Piano curricular studies included piano professional development with
- Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson American Composer & Conductor
- Arthur Cunningham, American composer and pianist
- Barry Harris, Piano Workshop
- GMWA-James Cleveland Gospel Music Workshop, Margaret Douroux
- National Endowment for the Arts, Fellow
- Master Class Course, Academy of Improvisation, Rutgers University
- John Motley, All City HS Chorus, NYC
- Royal Music Conservatory, Den Hagg Holland, Barry Harris/Frans Elsen
- Switzerland Piano Workshop Piano Barry Harris/Vince Benedetti
- Laszlo Halasz, New York City Opera
