Thomas Proctor is a music composer and singer from the Portland, Oregon area. With one degree in biology, and one in music, he has concluded that science and art are both trying to do the same thing: define and communicate the human experience. He is drawn to music as a way to explore how we all relate to each other, believing that music opens a portal into the soul, exposing and honoring our deepest vulnerabilities.
Thomas’ path to music composition was unconventional. He learned to play the electric guitar in high school, and eventually played and sang in a rock band. This ignited a passion for creating music through performance and composition, which led him to earn a Bachelor of Music in music composition from Portland State University. He currently sings baritone with the Oregon Repertory Singers.
As a singer of the choral arts, he is especially drawn to composing choral music. His style of composing is often sweeping and lyrical, even in his instrumental music. He is interested in the contrasts between tender and intense, creating an emotional ride for the listener, as well as performer. Most importantly, in his compositions he aims for balance between expectation and surprise.
His TBB song, “The Quiet Land of Érin” is a reinvention of the traditional Irish song, informed by his research into the original 19th century poem. He was commissioned to write an up-beat SATB piece called, “We Have Arrived!” for the award-winning Lincoln High School Cardinal choir. His chamber trio in three movements for clarinet, viola, and piano, Mourning Dove Suite was inspired by the sound of hundreds of mourning doves congregating at dawn near a lake in the high desert of central Oregon.
He finds inspiration to write music when there is a story to tell. Being excited about a documentary, or a poem, or sitting on the beach on a gloomy day, he is compelled to share the love, grief, joy, or misery of these experiences. He is curious to see how his frame of the world looks through the eyes of others or changes the way others see the world; also, to see how his frame of reference is affected by the act of creating and sharing.
Besides music, he enjoys backpacking and mountain climbing, sewing his own apparel, and working in a clinical pathology lab, and cats.