Sergeant First Class Phillip Helm joined the West Point Band in 2006. He earned a Bachelor of Music from West Texas A&M University, where he studied with David Murray. He also attended the Manhattan School of Music college and pre-college divisions, where he studied with Linda McKnight, and spent his summers studying with Gary Karr. He has also studied with Paul Bresciani, John Feeney, and Leigh Mesh. In addition to his duties with the band, Sgt. 1st Class Helm is the principal bass of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the assistant principal bass of the Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra. He has played as first-call substitute with the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonics, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, and the Syracuse Symphony. He has also played with the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, Binghamton Philharmonic, Greenwich Symphony, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Key West Symphony, the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, Camelot, and SpongeBob the Musical. Sgt. 1st Class Helm has taught at Vassar College, SUNY New Paltz, and Bard College.
