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by: Edwin Breeden '10

September 30, 2009

Currently serving as associate professor of music and coordinator of string studies at Presbyterian College, Dr. Richard Thomas brings to the music department a musical background that is diverse a hemisphere over. On Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Edmunds Hall, Thomas will share the fruits of his background in a faculty cello recital that will blend together the contemporary and the traditional.

Prior to arriving at PC in 2001, Thomas had spent much of his musical career performing in South America, having been fortunate enough to land a performing job a year after obtaining his undergraduate degree in 1980.

“I went first to the Cleveland Institute of Music and then to DePauw University where my bachelor’s degree is from. Right after that I auditioned for the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia in Bogotá. I got the job and moved to South America,” he said.

In addition to playing with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia, Thomas has also spent time as a member of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Valle in Cali, Colombia, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Thomas describes his time performing in South America as extremely formative in both his musical and general intellectual development.

“Life in Latin America had a huge impact on me, in many ways formatting what I was to be as a professional adult,” he said. “I had never been out of the USA, had not even been on an airplane before.  I learned more in South America than I ever learned in school…Latin culture, history, politics…Latin traditional and popular music genres.”

In particular, Thomas recalls fondly the opportunities for a more global exposure afforded him in Bogotá.

“Bogotá is an international city and foreigners tend to gravitate to one another. While there I made friends with people from all over the world.”

In response to more popular notions of Colombia, Thomas clarified, “It’s not all drugs.”

It was also not until his time in Latin America that the possibility of actually teaching music ever seriously occurred to Thomas. In need of a respite from the symphony life, he took his first full-time teaching job in 1993 at the Universidad del Cauca in the southern city of Popayán, Colombia and discovered his love for teaching. Thomas would later return to the United States to teach, obtaining his masters of music from the University of North Texas in 1997 and doctor of music arts from the University of South Carolina in 1999.

Interestingly, though, his love for music in general was almost not even given a chance to fully germinate.

Only beginning to play cello at the relatively late age of 12, Thomas did not grow up in a home that was very encouraging of his more artistic inclinations.

“My parents didn’t think it was cool to be a musician,” he said.

Having been raised in a military family, Thomas added, “It just really wasn’t a part of the culture.”

Coincidentally, it was not until Thomas’ early college career proved unsatisfying that he was truly able to devote himself fully to what he had always wanted to do - music.

“I actually had gone to a local community college for two years after high school attempting to get a liberal arts degree, but didn’t like it and didn’t do well. I then went to music school, which is what I really wanted, and did quite well from then on.”

“Ever since I lived in Latin America, I feel like I’ve ‘become Latin’ – like it’s in my blood now,” he added.

Subsequently, Thomas always tries to incorporate some sort of Latin influence into his performances, in addition to more traditional pieces. At his recital on October 1^st, Thomas plans to play contemporary works by Manuel de Falla of Spain and Blas Atehortúa of Colombia, as well as two standard pieces by Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

Joining Dr. Thomas for the evening will be Domonique Launey, a visiting pianist from Wilmington, N.C.

The performance is free and open to public.