Gary Thomas

Baltimore native GARY THOMAS, currently the director and chair of the Peabody Jazz Department, is the inaugural holder of the Richard and Elizabeth Case Endowed Professorship in Jazz Studies. He studied at the Peabody Preparatory and Howard University, and brings to Peabody worldwide experience as a performer on tenor saxophone and flute. Often compared to jazz giants like John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins, Gary Thomas has been described on the European Jazz Network website as “…a versatile artist…who compounds (a musical heritage) with new elements and carries it creatively into the future.” He is a popular clinician at universities throughout the world. He has performed and recorded with such jazz greats as Miles Davis, Jack DeJohnette, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, and Tony Williams, and has appeared on more than 100 recordings over the past 15 years. Mr. Thomas was formally recognized with the Johns Hopkins University Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012. As the inaugural Richard and Elizabeth Case Endowed Professor in Jazz, Gary Thomas will continue to strengthen Peabody’s Bachelor of Music Program in Jazz Performance, a program he has built from its inception. Distinctive in its focus on preparing students to become both creative musicians and skilled entrepreneurs, Peabody’s jazz studies faculty inspire the highest artistic standards. A core curriculum of multifaceted studies provides each student with a thorough technical, conceptual, and historical comprehension of jazz in a rigorous, performance-oriented academic environment. The program epitomizes the Peabody philosophy of providing aspiring young musicians with the opportunity to learn from faculty artists and guest artists renowned in their fields.