Thomas W. Jefferson

Thomas Wade Jefferson (b. 1963) currently serves as Director of Keyboard Studies and Coordinator of the Chamber Music and Collaborative Pianists programs at North Park University in Chicago. Jefferson earned his DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the Northwestern University School of Music and received his M.M. in Piano Performance from Chicago Musical College-Roosevelt University, and a B.M. in Music Education from Texas A & I University (Kingsville) with honors. Regarded as an accomplished performer in both classical and popular genres, he collaborates regularly with various choral groups and musicians in the Chicago area, and has given workshops and master classes on gospel piano and improvisation at the National Pastoral Musicians Convention (NPM) and the Clarence Rivers Institute of the Archbishop Lyke Conference. In addition, he is active as a music transcriber and enjoys composing and arranging music for choir, piano, and other ensembles. He has published compositions and arrangements through several publishers, including GIA, Augsburg Fortress Press, Simply Liturgical Music, and Concordia Publishing House. Among his most popular works is a two-volume set Let it Shine: Spirituals for Piano and his premiere recording, Impromptu. Thomas is the author of I Hear Music in the Air: Gospel-Style Piano Technique. He serves as music director at the Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows on Chicago’s west side.