Kade Phillips

Kade Phillips currently studies Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Born and raised near Louisville, Kentucky, his interest in the organ began at age 11 when he undertook a personal study of organ building. Only a year later, his family moved to a small town in eastern Oregon—an area utterly devoid of pipe organs. However, his church had a digital one, and through periodic lessons in western Idaho he slowly learned to play. All the while, he continued to read books and search the depths of the internet about building the king of instruments. After accepting an offer of admission to MIT, Kade wrote an email to the Harvard Organ Society asking how he might be involved, and to his delight discovered that he could be a member. It was through the organ society that he met Chris Lane, with whom he has studied ever since. He marvels at the experiences he has had since moving to Cambridge, such as travelling to see the instruments of New York, visiting Woolsey Hall in Yale, and spending two incredible weeks in Germany, not to mention routinely hearing and playing the fabulous instruments of the Boston area. Besides the organ and engineering, Kade enjoys typography, linguistics, design, and just about everything under the sun. Although he has no idea what he wants to do with his life yet, one thing is certain. He swore to himself that, one day, he is going to build a pipe organ.