RP · 032 / About
Vol IV · The Builder
Las Vegas, NV → Vietnam
Rahmaan Phillip.
Violinist
Violist
Composer
Builder
On navigating classical music as an outsider: (story continued from home page)
…It made my career very difficult, emotionally and psychologically. “Am I crazy? Do my peers not like me? Am I on the right track?” In a way, it all paid off. It forced me out of my comfort zone, to explore avenues outside strictly “classical” music, and to be self-reliant. Having nobody to lean on for advice forced me to outwork everyone. Trial and error became my strategy. Relentless drive became my style. I was hungry, and more or less alone. That turned out to be an advantage I’m grateful for.
Rahmaan Phillip
Las Vegas residencies
Las Vegas residencies: Bellagio, The Venetian, The Palazzo, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York, and The Cromwell.
Shared the stage with
I picked up the viola at 10 and the violin in college, last-chair and indifferent, until a high-school trip to Carnegie Hall turned a hobby into a calling.
I came up the Las Vegas way: a lounge act playing solo covers, then residencies across the Strip. That bandstand education carried me from casino lounges to the Grammy stage with Lady Gaga, to Imagine Dragons, to more than 20 countries on four continents.
Performed for
President Joe Biden · The Dalai Lama · President Jimmy Carter · Quincy Jones
In 2024 I founded Phillip Violins in Sơn Trà, Đà Nẵng — a full-service workshop with setups and repairs by a trained luthier, and lessons for students from age five.
It’s the most unlikely line on my résumé, and the one I’m proudest of: an American-trained musician building a string culture from scratch, half a world from the Strip.
Visit Phillip ViolinsWhen I’m not on a stage, I’m composing: chamber music for the instrument that rarely gets the lead — solo viola, viola and piano, string quartet, small ensemble. Next on the desk: symphonic work, and scores for film and television.
If I don’t write it, it will never get written.Rahmaan Phillip