John Thomas is a composer, pianist, music director, actor, photographer, and producer of music events. For more than a decade he has composed a wide variety of music for piano, theater productions, choral cantatas, and other performance venues.
His compact disc album “Composing Myself” is beautiful, passionate, stimulating and meditative. It is written as a soundtrack for a life’s journey, composed from the dunes of the Provincelands on Cape Cod to the holy places of Tibet and Nepal.
Selections on the 75-minute compact disc include music written for theatrical productions of Charles Ludlum’s "Camille"; "The Ash Girl", a retelling of the Cinderella story; and "Spontaneous Me: A Night with Walt Whitman", focusing on the great American poet’s life and creative work. His musical depiction of "The Provincelands" and "Water" are a 25-minute piano tour de force of the mysteries and grandeur of nature where land and water meet sky and wind at the edge of Cape Cod. The album concludes with two compositions ("Journey" and "Annapurna") recorded in Nepal and Uzbekistan based on Buddhist and Koranic chants and including field recordings of Tibetan horse bells in the Annapurna Sanctuary.
Thomas has played music in the Provincelands dunes, on the island of Mykonos, at Boston Symphony Hall, and with hundreds of musicians. He co-wrote "Pure PolyESTHER: a biblical burlesque" (with Boston Theater Offensive’s Abe Rybeck); wrote, composed, produced and performed "Spontaneous Me: A Night with Walt Whitman"; composed "Walt & Oscar’s Wilde Weekend" and "The Vigil Cantata"; composed and played the title role in "TightAss Androgynous: a musical bloodbath"; composed and performed music for New Provincetown Players’ (NPP) production of "Camille" and Cape Cod Community College’s "The Ash Girl"; was music director for Provincetown Theatre Company’s "Hair", "Cabaret", "Bat Boy the Musical", and NPP musicals "Streakin’" and "Lover, Liar, Lady, Whore: The Women of Kander and Ebb"; portrayed the roles of Manny the pianist in Provincetown Repertory Theatre’s "Master Class" and the Narrator/Pianist in Gloucester Stage Company’s "Billy Bishop Goes to War"; created the musical arrangements for Wendy Kesselman’s "The Black Monk" (performed in Provincetown and New York City); directed the American premiere performance of Nancy van de Vate’s "Cocaine Lil"; and produces the Great Music on Sundays @5 performance series and the Celebration of Life concert at the Unitarian-Universalist Meeting House of Provincetown.
www.johnwthomas.com
Composing Myself: Original Music…:
"... compositions that flow easily from one to the next, the transition as natural as a bird in flight over the dunes or a seal popping his head up in the surf, only to vanish and reappear minutes later yards down the beach... it transports the listener to a place of nirvana where the balance of nature is at peace with the universe."
- Provincetown Banner
Camille…:
“Adding greatly to the atmosphere of the production is a wealth of original music written and played beautifully on piano by John Thomas… I loved it…”
- theatermania.com (Michael Portantiere, August 15 2006)
“The original music by John Thomas… is a vibrant accompaniment.”
- Cape Cod Times (Debbie Forman, August 7 2006)
Read more...