Bio - André Thomas

ANDRÉ J. THOMAS was most recently a Visiting Professor of Conducting and Interim Conductor of the Yale Camerata.  He is an Emeritus Professor of Music at Florida State University.  He previously served as a faculty member at the University of Texas, Austin.


Dr. Thomas received his degrees from Friends University (B.A.), Northwestern University (M.M.), and the University of Illinois (D.M.A). He is in demand as a choral adjudicator, clinician, and director of Honor/All-State Choirs throughout North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa.  He has conducted choirs at the state, division, and national conventions of the Music Educators National Conference (NAFME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).


His international conducting credits are extensive.  He has led numerous prestigious orchestras and choirs around the world, including the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England, the Berlin Radio Choir and the North German Radio Choir in Germany, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Bulgarian Radio Choir & Orchestra, the Seoul Metropolitan Chorus, Ansan City Choir, Jeju Provincial Seogwipo Chorale in South Korea, the Charlotte Symphony, China's People's Liberation Orchestra, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra.


Dr. Thomas is a distinguished composer/arranger with Hinshaw Music Company, Mark Foster Music Company, Fitzsimons Music Company, Lawson Gould, Earthsongs, Choristers Guild, and Heritage Music Company.  Various musical organizations have recognized him with the Living Legend Award, the Distinguished Service Award, the Robert Shaw Award, the NCCO (National Collegiate Choral Organization) Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Southern Region of ACDA Award of Excellence.  In January 2019, he was inducted into the Florida Music Educator's Hall of Fame, and in 2022 he was presented the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal, the most prestigious honor conferred by the Yale School of Music.

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