Artist Talk: Omar Thomas
Join the Jazz Studies Department for an artist talk with composer and arranger, Omar Thomas.
Hailed by Herbie Hancock as showing "great promise as a new voice in the further development of jazz in the future," educator, arranger, and award-winning composer Omar Thomas has created music extensively in the contemporary jazz ensemble idiom. Thomas's music has been performed in concert halls across the country, and he has been commissioned to create works in both jazz and classical styles. His work has been performed by such diverse groups as the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Mens' Choruses, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. His work is featured on Dianne Reeves's Grammy Award-winning album, Beautiful Life.
Thomas's group, the Omar Thomas Large Ensemble has released two albums, I Am and We Will Know: An LGBT Civil Rights Piece in Four Movements. I Am debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Jazz Charts and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums Chart.
The NEC Jazz Orchestra, Ken Schaphorst conductor, will perform landmark compositions and arrangements created to combat racism and bigotry. Selections will include Charles Mingus's "Haitian Fight...