Eric Thomas, clarinet

For over 40 years, clarinetist Eric Thomas has been coming to Apple Hill. He is a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music where he completed major studies with Peter Hadcock.  Mr. Thomas is a recipient of the Concert Artist Guild Award and has appeared as a guest artist with several chamber groups throughout the country. He was the Director of the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band at Colby College for over 20 years and is now the Music Director and Conductor of the Keene Chamber Orchestra. He has been an adjunct for several colleges and prep schools throughout his career. Now he enjoys working on compositions and is currently working on a commission for “Around Hear,” a Boston-area music education organization led by longtime Apple Hillers Marji Gere and Dan Sedgwick. He just rejoined the faculty at the University of Maine, Orono, teaching Saxophone and Jazz Theory. Robert Koff (violinist with the original Juilliard String Quartet) has said  “It is a rare opportunity to meet a virtuoso musician who is as articulate about his art as he is with his art,” Gene Pack (Classical music expert NPR affiliate KUER) has said “Eric Thomas is the world’s finest clarinetist.” The Los Angeles Times  wrote “[he] drew a pallet of musical color from [his] instrument.” And the New York Times “ talent multiplied, a superb musician, an important addition to the musical scene” While Downbeat Magazine “[a] remarkably clean and inventive improvisor stretching [jazz] tradition while adding to its language” and the Boston Globe  “he shines as a wizard at subtle, super-quiet playing.”