Josie DiPhilippo

Teaches: Piano

Pronouns: She/Her

Teaching Philosophy: I believe that everyone has the ability to make music and that doing so provides massive benefits to our emotional health and development. My goal as a teacher is to provide students with the tools to successfully interpret and play music while providing them with the opportunity to practice creative freedom.

Music Influences: 
Franz Schubert, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Frédéric Chopin, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Jacob Collier, Ella Fitzgerald, Ludwig van Beethoven.

When I’m not making music: I enjoy hiking around New England, reading, baking, watching horror movies, or spending time with my friends and family.

Current projects: Working on my master’s degree in Piano Performance at the Osher School of Music, performing with various chamber music groups, freelance accompanying.

Favorite Place in Maine: Tumbledown Mountain.

Josie DiPhilippo is a musician from South Portland, Maine and has been studying piano for 18 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and is working toward a master’s degree with Dr. Laura Kargul at the University of Southern Maine.

Recently, Josie worked with Opera in the Pines as the music director and pianist for their production of La Bohème. Previously, Josie was offered a graduate assistantship and worked with the Osher School of Music vocal department as a collaborator and accompanist. She was the associate music director for USM’s production of Nine (2022) and the assistant music director for their production of Into the Woods (2023). Josie has been a choral accompanist in the Scarborough school system since 2019 and was also the rehearsal accompanist for Opera Maine in 2019. Josie enjoys promoting classical music through community outreach and spent three years working as the community coordinator for the Portland Symphony Orchestra to present musical events for all ages. 

Honors include first prize in the Hannah Powell Competition, winner of the USM Concerto Competition (2018, 2020, and 2022), first prize in the Ocy Downs Competition, first prize in the Pine Tree Piano Competition, winner of the USM Youth Ensemble Scholarship Competition, second prize in the Lucia A. Wright piano competition, recipient of the Frank Glazer Award and recipient of the Kotzschmar Memorial Trust Scholarship. She was also a featured performer in the USM Scholarship Gala (2017, 2019, and 2022) and the USM Honors Recital (2018-2020).