Described by Peter Eldridge of the New York Voices as possessing a “creative spirit and charismatic presence,” Tyler Thomas is committed to advancing jazz and commercial music education in the United States. As a third-generation jazz musician, Tyler’s love for the music and its traditions stems from a place of deep personal resonance. Guided by the spirit of the Tanglewood Declaration and the essays of John Kratus, he pursues an inclusive vision of American music education centered on contemporary performance skills, popular and commercial repertoire, and songwriting. He believes in the musical potential of all people, and seeks to help build a more musical society of professionals and amateurs alike.
Tyler has taught at the secondary and post-secondary level, and has enjoyed serving as a guest conductor for honors mixed choirs and vocal jazz ensembles in Pennsylvania and in his native Upstate New York. Since September 2024, he has taught 6-12 vocal, general music, and brass lessons in the Galway Central School District, in Galway, NY. Tyler’s recent and upcoming clinician appearances include the vocal jazz reading session at the NY-ACDA Conference in August ‘24, a session on vocal jazz education at the NY-ACDA Collegiate Conference in October ‘24, and direction of the TTBB Colorado All-State Vocal Jazz Ensemble in January 2025.
In 2022, he joined the faculty of the School for Music Vocations at Southwestern Community College in Creston, IA, and served as the program’s co-director for the ‘23-’24 academic year. While at SMV, he taught courses in beginning and intermediate music theory and musicianship, studio recording, production, solo jazz literature, music business, and performance psychology, applied lessons in jazz voice, ear training, and songwriting, and directed vocal jazz, singer-songwriter, and pop ensembles there. Tyler served as co-chair of the 2023 Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships, and worked with numerous high school jazz choirs as a clinician and adjudicator around the state.
From 2014 to 2018, Tyler taught at Shaker High School in Latham, NY, directing mixed, chamber, and barbershop choirs and the spring musical, and teaching both classical voice lessons and courses in music technology. His ensembles there consistently earned Level VI Gold with Distinction ratings at NYSSMA festivals and several of his students were selected to all-state, all-eastern, and all-national choirs.
He holds a B.M. in Music Education from SUNY Potsdam, and both an M.M. and D.M.A. in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas. As a Teaching Fellow at UNT, Tyler directed both mixed and treble vocal jazz ensembles, taught undergraduate applied voice lessons, and assisted with courses in arranging, songwriting, improvisation, and jazz history. His dissertation research explores the creation of statewide honors vocal jazz ensembles in the United States. Tyler has an abiding interest in history, linguistics, and geography, is a proud Eagle Scout, and cherishes time spent in America’s wild natural spaces. He is an active member of ASCAP, the Jazz Education Network (JEN), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and the Association for Popular Music Education (APME).
