Thomas West

Bio

Thomas J. West is an active music teacher, composer, adjudicator, and clinician in the greater Philadelphia area. He has over ten years experience as a concert band director, marching band director, jazz improvisation instructor, choral director, orchestra director, private instructor, and marching drill writer. His directing career has included small rural programs, small metro programs, large high-achieving suburban programs, and non-profit youth bands. In addition to his band compositions, he also has over forty unpublished vocal arrangements to his credit, most written for use with collegiate men's a cappella groups. He is currently a music teacher at the Center for Performing and Fine Arts, a unique school which is part of the innovative Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School.Thomas has a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from The Pennsylvania State University with Master's equivalency. He holds a teaching certificate in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and has taught at the secondary level in both states. In addition to both instrumental and choral ensembles at Penn State, Thomas was a student leader in the Penn State Blue Band and a member of the brass section of the Cadets of Bergen County Drum and Bugle Corps in 1993 and 1994. He served as an Associate Director of the Warren Junior Military Band of Youngstown, Ohio from 1995 to 2005. He also served as a visual staff member for the renowned North Penn Marching Knights of Lansdale, PA for one season in 2004. He is a current adjudicator with the United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) and Cavalcade of Bands. He is a member of MENC, PMEA, NJMEA, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and the National Band Association. He appeared in the Marquis Who's Who Among American Educators in 2004 and 2005, an honor rarely bestowed upon teachers, as students who appear in the Who's Who Among American High School Students must nominate them. He resides in Downingtown, PA with his wife and two sons.