At the Lied Center...

Teaching Artists

• 

  Ann Marie Pollard

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Instructor
  Ann Marie Pollard

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Instructor

  Biography:

  Ann Marie Pollard joined the Performance Area faculty at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in order to serve as Assistant Professor of Voice, Movement, and Acting and as the Voice and Dialect Coach for the Nebraska Repertory Theatre in 2018. Prior to her roles at the University of Nebraska, she served as a dialect coach and voice instructor for the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.  Ann Marie also spent three joyful years teaching musical theatre voice and repertoire at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois.

  While in the Chicago area she performed with First Folio Theatre, Aston Rep, Porchlight Musical Theatre, Provision Theatre, and Vox3 Ensemble. She wrote and curated regular “Side by Side Cabaret” performance revues with her dueling piano cabaret partner, Rachel Page.  Ann Marie is a cross-over artist specializing in new works and interdisciplinary productions. Such credits include Peter Fischer’s O d’amarti, o morire, the title role in Astor Piazzola’s tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires for which she also served as director and choreographer, and the premiere of Janice Hamer’s The Lost Childhood with the National Philharmonic. Favorite performances include Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Guinevere in Camelot. Favorite directing/choreographing roles include Cosi Fan Tutti, A Christmas Carol, and a one-hour devised documentary theatre performance created with eight acting majors at UNL called "As Free As That."

  Ann Marie’s research has taken her into the classrooms of future schoolteachers and lawyers to provide presentation and preventative voice care training and to Singapore to present on perceptions of color and sound within the neurodiverse classroom. 

  Ann Marie coaches actors, lawyers, teachers, and business professionals - anyone who uses their voice to be heard, felt, and understood. An advocate of supporting all humans in feeling fully embodied and at home with their voice and gesture, Ann Marie happily offers consultations for presentations and voice care to faculty members at UNL. 

  Ann Marie is a Designated Linklater Teacher, a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, and holds an MFA from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and an MM in Vocal Performance from Texas Tech University.  Learn more at annmariepollard.com.

   

   

  
• 

  David von Kampen

  Award-winning composer, lecturer at Glenn Korff School of Music
  David von Kampen

  Award-winning composer, lecturer at Glenn Korff School of Music

  Biography:

  David von Kampen (b. 1986) is a composer based in Lincoln, Nebraska. David’s creative work spans a wide variety of genres and styles, including jazz, choral music, hymnody and liturgy, solo voice, chamber music, and musical theater. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Nebraska. He has studied composition with James Barnes, Dan Gailey, Forrest Pierce, Eric Richards, and Randall Snyder.

  David is a six-time Downbeat Award winner in graduate-level jazz writing categories, a finalist for the American Prize in composition, and was named the MTNA Distinguished Composer of the Year for his song cycle "Under the Silver and Home Again." He has been among ten winners of the ORTUS International New Music Competition, the recipient of an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer award, winner of the San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices Project, winner of the National Band Association’s Young Jazz Composers Competition, and received Honorable Mention in the New York Youth Symphony First Music Commissions. Puddin’ and the Grumble, David’s original musical with playwright Becky Boesen, was one of seven finalists for the Richard Rodgers award.

  David has over 80 choral and instrumental compositions and arrangements published with Walton Music, G. Schirmer, Hal Leonard, Santa Barbara, Concordia Publishing House, Pavane Publishing, UNC Jazz Press, Graphite Publishing, MusicSpoke, and others. His music has been performed by the KHORIKOS Vocal Ensemble, the Cambridge Chamber Singers, the L.A. Choral Lab, KC VITAs Chamber Choir, the Taiwan Youth Festival Chorus, San Francisco Choral Artists, the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and by collegiate, all-state, high school, and church ensembles throughout the United States and internationally.

  David is a lecturer of music theory and literature at the University of Nebraska, where he directs the UNL Jazz Singers and Jazz Orchestra. He also teaches applied composition at Concordia University, Neb., and serves as Music Coordinator for Sanctuary Worship at Christ Lutheran Church in Lincoln. David is a member of ASCAP, the Jazz Education Network, and the American Choral Directors Association. He is active as a conductor and pianist, and as a clinician for vocal and instrumental ensembles. He lives in Lincoln with his wife Mollie and two daughters.

   

  
• 

  Feifei Jiang

  Nebraska Wesleyan University Professor of Music Area Head of Piano | Director of NWU Piano Day | Founder of JF International Music Academy
  Feifei Jiang

  Nebraska Wesleyan University Professor of Music Area Head of Piano | Director of NWU Piano Day | Founder of JF International Music Academy

  Biography:

  Feifei Jiang is an acclaimed pianist and educator who has performed extensively across the United States, Mexico, and China. She is a founding member of the JF Piano Duo, a husband-and-wife ensemble renowned for their dynamic and expressive performances. Together with Peter Jiang, the duo presents inventive programs that span a diverse range of musical styles, with a special emphasis on French Impressionism. Their four-hand piano performances of works by composers such as Debussy and Ravel have captivated audiences with their sensitivity, nuance, and artistic depth. As noted by KVOE-FM in a review of their Amend Family Recital Series performance, the JF Piano Duo’s artistry showcases a profound connection to their repertoire, leaving lasting impressions on listeners.

  Jiang’s numerous accolades include Best Performance at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia, First Place at the Asian Young Artist Piano Competition, and Gold Medalist at the TOYAMA Young Artist Piano Competition. She was also a Silver Medalist at the KMTA Collegiate Graduate Piano Competition. Her dedication to teaching and inspiring young musicians has been recognized with the American Protégé International Piano and String Competition Certificate for outstanding achievement, which led to her students performing at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City. Additionally, she has received the Inspire Founders Award Finalist for Celebrating Women’s Leadership and the Gladys Lux Award for Art Education at the Mayor’s Arts Awards in Lincoln, Nebraska.

  As an educator, Jiang is committed to fostering excellence in her students. She has led masterclasses at esteemed institutions such as Kansas State University, Northwest Missouri State University, and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Her students have earned top honors in prestigious competitions, including the American Protégé International Piano Competition, Steinway Junior Piano Competition, International Grand Music Competition, Chicago International Music Competition, Aloha International Piano Competition, Conero International Piano Competition, San Jose International Piano Competition, and the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Piano Performance Competitions. Her students have performed at renowned venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Kaufman Music Center in New York City and the Royal Albert Hall in London.

  Currently serving as the Area Head of Keyboard at Nebraska Wesleyan University, Jiang brings a wealth of experience to her role as a Professor of Music. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of NebraskaLincoln. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Jiang is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) in Piano. She also serves as the Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the Nebraska Music Teachers Association.

  
• 

  Kaleb WIlkening

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Accompanist
  Kaleb WIlkening

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Accompanist

  Biography:

  Kaleb is a music teacher and collaborator based in Lincoln, Nebraska. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studied with Dr. Paul Barnes. Kaleb studied Organ with Dr. Christopher Marks and Brent Shaw. While studying at UNL he attended the Vienna International Piano Academy and has performed in masterclasses with artists such as Joyce Yang, Sean Chen, and Eva Polgar. Kaleb was recently a teaching artist with the Lied Center Piano Academy and has led music theory classes with Lied Center Community Learning.

  Kaleb is a frequent collaborator and music director with multiple performing arts organizations in the Lincoln and Omaha area. Recent credits include: The Prom (Nebraska Wesleyan University, 2024), Cabaret (Lincoln Community Playhouse, 2024), Pippin (Nebraska Wesleyan University, 2023), Catch Me If You Can (Pinewood Performing Arts, 2023), Ordinary Days (University of Nebraska-Lincoln Theatrix, 2023), and Into The Woods (Lincoln Public Schools, 2023). Kaleb is the collaborative pianist for the Lied Center Performing Arts Triple Threat Intensive where he accompanies 40+ high school students in masterclasses led by leading professionals such as Special Tony Award Winner Jason Michael Webb, Q Smith, Alicia Olatuja, and Katie Pohlman.

  Kaleb grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota where he studied Viola in the Black Hills Suzuki School with Carol Knowles. While in Rapid City, he played viola with the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra, accompanied local choirs, and played piano with Black Hills Community Theater (BHCT) and Advocates for Creative Theater Students (ACTS). His previous piano teachers include Anne Foster, Jim MacInnes, Symeon Wasseen, and Paul Barnes.

  Kaleb currently serves as the Assistant Music Director at Saint Paul First United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska and runs his own music studio where he teaches piano and music theory. With over 10 years as a collaborator, he has experience with solo voice, instrumental, chamber music, choir, and musical theater.

  In his free time Kaleb enjoys hiking, reading, and taking care of his two cats Koda and Suki.

  
• 

  Madeline Rogers

  Featured Academy Guest Instructor and Assistant Professor of Keyboard Studies, Berea College
  Madeline Rogers

  Featured Academy Guest Instructor and Assistant Professor of Keyboard Studies, Berea College

  Biography:

  Originally from Eldorado, IL, Madeline Rogers is an accomplished solo and collaborative performer in the US and abroad. Significant international performances include the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and a recurring scholarship at Brahmshaus Baden-Baden, where she researched and performed in 2022 and 2024. In October 2024, Rogers toured Vietnam with faculty from the University of Nebraska as part of their Global Arts Academy, teaching masterclasses and performing at renowned music schools in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam. The following month, Rogers travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to perform as a solo artist and in collaboration with Seminario Internacional Teológico Bautista and Conservatorio Superior de Música Ástor Piazzolla.  Rogers performs regularly in Kentucky with her piano trio, Trio Risoluto, alongside violinist Sila Darville and cellist Luke Darville. Rogers is also pianist and Co-Artistic Director of Amadeus Lex, a nonprofit chamber music ensemble dedicated to bringing classical music to the Bluegrass region. 

  A proponent of American composers, Rogers has worked closely with Victoria Bond to revive her “Black Light” piano concerto that was last performed in 1997 and was the first to premiere the two-piano version of the concerto in 2021 alongside Florencia Zuloaga. Her current research is on H. Leslie Adams, whom she interviewed extensively to publish a revised edition of his Empire Sonata for Horn and Piano through the American Composers Alliance in 2024. She was the first to perform the edited work for the composer and for the College Music Society National Conference in Miami in October of 2023.

  Rogers is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Piano through the Music Teachers National Association and has taught in both private studio and class piano settings since 2010. In 2024, Rogers received an Open Educational Resource Grant to create and publish a textbook with all original compositions, which she currently uses to teach Class Piano at Berea College. Rogers earned a Master of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a student of André Watts and a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Nebraska Lincoln with Paul Barnes. Rogers previously taught applied and collaborative piano as an Artist-Faculty member at the Omaha Conservatory of Music and is currently Assistant Professor of Keyboard Studies at Berea College. 

  
• 

  Marcelo Lian

  Piano Artist-Faculty Omaha Conservatory of Music
  Marcelo Lian

  Piano Artist-Faculty Omaha Conservatory of Music

  Biography:

  Argentinean-American pianist, Dr. Marcelo Lian has been Prize Winner in several piano competitions as well as recipient of scholarships in his native country and the US. He received his Americas Thanks to his artistic and academic achievements he te

  Marcelo’s appearances in solo recitals includes presentations at the Teatro Colon during the Martha Argerich Festival in 2002, a recital in California playing on Vladimir Horowitz’ legendary piano, and a Carnegie Weill Hall debut in 1998 thanks to the support and encouragement of his mentor Dr. Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi.

  In 2013, Marcelo earned his Doctoral Degree in Piano Performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under the guidance of Dr. Paul Barnes. Dr. Lian is Artist-in-Residence at Linfield College (OR), and Visiting Artist at Kansas State University, McPherson College (KS), Nyack College (NY), New England Conservatory (MA), Southwest Baptist University (MO), Wayland Baptist University (TX) amongst others. During summers, Marcelo is on faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.

  Dr. Lian founded “Pianists of the Americas”, a new festival in Portland (OR). He also published an article on “Clavier Companion” on a topic related to teaching strategies, which is one of his passions.

  Invited by the National University of Litoral, Dr. Lian recently performed and taught masterclasses in Argentina (Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Cordoba) appearing in both solo and chamber music recitals.

  Every summer he appears as recitalist and clinician in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and in Milan, Italy.

  In October 2022 Dr. Lian performed a solo recital at Carnegie Weill Hall in New York.

  His recent album Eredità has been nominated for the Gardel Awards.

  
• 

  Mary Kate Moore

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Instructor
  Mary Kate Moore

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Instructor

  Biography:

  Mary Kate Moore is a native Nebraskan, theater actor and classically trained singer based in New York City. She was recently seen on Broadway and in New York City Center’s revival of Into the Woods, understudying Sara Bareilles and Stephanie J. Block as the Baker’s Wife. She has also starred in the First National Tour of MJ: The Musical as Rachel and in the North American tours of Les Miserables as Fantine, for which she received a BroadwayWorld LA Award: Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and Fiasco Theater’s Into The Woods. Regional theater credits include Little Shop of Horrors (TUTS), Songs For a New World (The Gateway Playhouse), Spring Awakening and The Rocky Horror Show (Lyric Theater of Oklahoma). TV: The Other Two (2021). IG: @mkathrynmoore.

  
• 

  Paul Barnes

  LIED CENTER PIANO ACADEMY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND UNL GLENN KORFF SCHOOL OF MUSIC MARGUERITE SCRIBANTE PROFESSOR OF MUSIC, PIANO AREA OF FOCUS: KEYBOARD
  Paul Barnes

  LIED CENTER PIANO ACADEMY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND UNL GLENN KORFF SCHOOL OF MUSIC MARGUERITE SCRIBANTE PROFESSOR OF MUSIC, PIANO AREA OF FOCUS: KEYBOARD

  Biography:

  Praised by the New York Times for his “Lisztian thunder and deft fluidity,” and the San Francisco Chronicle as “ferociously virtuosic,” pianist Paul Barnes has electrified audiences with his intensely expressive playing and cutting-edge programming. He has been featured seven times on APM’s Performance Today, on the cover of Clavier Magazine, and his recordings are streamed worldwide.

  Celebrating his twenty-four-year collaboration with Philip Glass, Barnes commissioned and gave the world premiere of Glass’s Piano Quintet “Annunciation.” The work is Glass’s first piano quintet and first work based on Greek Orthodox chant. In a Journal Star interview, Glass stated: “You have a world-class pianist in Paul Barnes. He’s a pure piano virtuoso.” The Journal Star described the world premiere performance as “meditative… striking… touchingly played by Barnes and the Chiara Quartet, ‘Annunciation’ is a romantic, late-period Glass masterwork.” Fred Child, host of APR’s Performance Today was present for the premiere and wrote: “Pianist Paul Barnes put together and performed a thrilling evening of music!” Child’s interview with Barnes and Glass and the word premiere performance of the quintet was featured twice on Performance Today. The New York premiere took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where New York Classical Review called the quintet “a fascinating mosaic of Glass’s late style…with a warm inner expression that seemed to echo Brahms.” PBS NewsHour recently featured a Nebraska Educational Telecommunications video production highlighting Barnes’ creative collaboration with Glass and the new quintet. Barnes recording of the quintet with string quartet superstars Brooklyn Rider was released in October of 2019 to critical acclaim. French publication ResMusica wrote: "Paul Barnes, whose pianistic lines are always clear, is a marvel of diologue with Brooklyn Rider."

  Barnes’ twelfth CD New Generations: The New Etudes of Philip Glass and Music of the Next Generation has also received rave reviews. Gramophone Magazine wrote, “Pianists of Barnes’s great technique and musicality are a boon to new music.” And American Record Guide commented, “This disc provides further proof of Barnes’s ability to communicate new music with flair and passion.” Produced by Orange Mountain Music, the recording features a selection of Glass’s etudes juxtaposed with works by N. Lincoln Hanks, Lucas Floyd, Jason Bahr, Zack Stanton, Ivan Moody, and Jonah Gallagher. The sonic result is a breathtaking panorama of the energetic and expressive landscape that is twenty-first century piano music. Barnes has performed the recital version of New Generations in Vienna, Seoul, Rome, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Chicago, Interlochen, and most recently at the Music Teachers National Association Convention in Glass’s hometown of Baltimore. Barnes also commissioned and gave the world premiere of Glass’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (After Lewis and Clark). The Omaha World Herald praised Barnes playing for his “driving intensity and exhilaration.” Nebraska Educational Telecommunications' production "The Lewis and Clark Concerto," a documentary/performance of the concerto featuring Barnes, won an Emmy for Best Performance Production. Additional performances included collaborations with conductor Marin Alsop at the prestigious Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and the Northwest Chamber Orchestra where the Seattle Times called Barnes' performance "an impressive feat." The world-premiere recording with the NWCO was released by Orange Mountain Music. Gramophone Magazine remarked that this recording is "certainly one of the most enjoyable recent releases of Glass's music...Paul Barnes is a shining soloist." Barnes recently gave the Chinese premiere of the concerto at the famous Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu China as part of an inaugural American Music festival.

  Orange Mountain Music also released Barnes' recording of his transcriptions from the operas of Philip Glass, including both the Trilogy Sonata and the Orphée Suite for Piano. Gramophone Magazine observed, “Barnes offers a surprisingly expressive reading…. Atmosphere and rhythmic vitality are important, and these qualities Barnes has in abundance.” The American Record noted, "Barnes is an expressive pianist with a lovely tone and a flair for the dramatic." The Trilogy Sonata and the Orphée Suite for Piano are published by Chester Music of London and are available at sheetmusicplus.com. Barnes’ eleventh CD The American Virtuoso featuring the music of Philip Glass, Samuel Barber, and Joan Tower was released on Orange Mountain Music to much critical acclaim. The American Record Guide wrote, "Another fine release from the amazing pianist Paul Barnes...with a pianist like this, new American music is in good hands." Barnes also commissioned a new piano concerto Ancient Keys written by Victoria Bond based on a Greek Orthodox chant. The world-premiere recording of this concerto as well as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was released on Albany Records. Barnes also commissioned Victoria Bond to write a new piano work based on a Greek Orthodox crucifixion hymn. Simeron Kremate (Today is Suspended) was co-commissioned by the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and the SDG Music Foundation in Chicago. The world premiere of Bond’s new work was given at Kimball Recital Hall on March 3, 2019 with the Chicago premiere on March 10 at the beautiful Nichols Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago. Barnes is Marguerite Scribante Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music. He teaches during the summer at the Vienna International Piano Academy and the Amalfi Coast Music Festival. In great demand as a pedagogue and clinician, Barnes has served as convention artist at several state MTNA conventions, most recently at Virginia in October of 2018, and was recently named ‘Teacher of the Year” by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association.

  Barnes latest recital A Bright Sadness: Piano music inspired by Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Native American chant features a contemplative and cathartic program of piano works inspired by the mystical world of chant. Barnes, also a Greek Orthodox chanter, has collaborated most recently with Philip Glass and Victoria Bond to create piano works based on ancient byzantine and Jewish chant. Barnes has also been a passionate champion of the works of Liszt and performs Liszt’s late masterpiece, Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross exploring the painful but ultimately hopeful journey of Christ to the cross. The overall theme of “bright sadness” permeates the program as the tremendous depth and intensity of ancient chant is seen through the bright prism of hope and love. New chant-based works by Native flutist Ron Warren, David von Kampen, and Matthew Arndt are given their premiere performances. Barnes’ recordings are available on Spotify, Pandora, ITunes, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon.

  
• 

  Ryan Scott Oliver

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Featured Artist and Faculty Leader
  Ryan Scott Oliver

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Featured Artist and Faculty Leader

  Biography:

  RYAN SCOTT OLIVER is a Lortel Award-nominated and Kleban Prize, Rodgers, and Larson Award-winning composer and lyricist. He was called “the future of Broadway… a major new voice in musical theatre” (Entertainment Weekly) and is “shaking up musical theater with his dark, twisted and genius work … [Oliver] could very well be musical theater’s answer to an auteur filmmaker or a gothic novelist” (Huffington Post). He wrote the music and lyrics for Jasper in Deadland; 35mm: A Musical Exhibition; Hugo; Darling; Mrs. Sharp; We Foxes and more. He is also the winner of New Musicals Awards from Weston Playhouse, Pace University, the recipient of numerous fellowships, residencies and ASCAP awards, and commissions from Disney Theatricals, Universal Theatricals, Broadway Across America, and more. 

   

  Select upcoming: Party of the Century (commissioned by Fourth Wall Theatricals), Tomorrow, the Island Dies (commission), and Shirley Jackson’s Demons, a theatre piece adapting short stories of acclaimed American Gothic writer Shirley Jackson. Find writings, videos, tweets, and more of his morbidly optimistic musings @ryanscottoliver on all platforms. 

   

  As an educator, he co-founded Actor Therapy with Lindsay Mendez in 2012 and teaches audition techniques and business classes. He was previously an adjunct professor at Pace University and ran the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program.

   

  
• 

  Sarah McKinistry-Brown

  Seminar Facilitator
  Sarah McKinistry-Brown

  Seminar Facilitator

  
• 

  Tom Larson

  UNL GLENN KORFF SCHOOL OF MUSIC ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMPOSITION, EMERGING MEDIA AND DIGITAL ARTS AREA OF FOCUS: COMPOSITION, EMERGING MEDIA ARTS, JAZZ STUDIES
  Tom Larson

  UNL GLENN KORFF SCHOOL OF MUSIC ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMPOSITION, EMERGING MEDIA AND DIGITAL ARTS AREA OF FOCUS: COMPOSITION, EMERGING MEDIA ARTS, JAZZ STUDIES

  Biography:

  Tom Larson is Assistant Professor of Composition (Emerging Media and Digital Arts) at the Glenn Korff School of Music. At the GKSoM, Tom has taught courses in Film Scoring, Digital Audio Recording and Production, Jazz History, Rock History, and Jazz Piano. His current course work includes teaching Film Scoring and Creative Sound Design, Digital Audio Recording/Production, and private Composition lessons. He also is a member of the UNL Faculty Jazz Ensemble, for which he serves as Music Director and Composer in Residence.

  Prior to becoming a faculty member at UNL, Tom was the co-owner of Studio Q Recording in Lincoln, where he produced music for TV and radio advertising, industrial videos, and documentary films. Among his credits are the scores for three documentaries for the PBS American Experience series (a production of WGBH-TV, Boston): In the White Man's Image, Around the World in 72 Days, and Monkey Trial (which won a 2002 Peabody Award). He also scored the documentaries Willa Cather: The Road is All for WNET-TV (New York), Ashes from the Dust for the PBS series NOVA, and the PBS specials Standing Bear's Footprint, Most Honorable Son, and In Search of the Oregon Trail. Tom has written extensively for the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, and the University of Illinois Asian Studies Department. His music has also been used on the CBS-TV series The District. His commercial credits include music written for Phoenix-based Music Oasis, LA-based Music Animals, Chicago-based Pfeifer Music Partners and General Learning Communications, and advertising agencies in Lincoln and Omaha.

  As a recording engineer, Tom has worked on numerous projects as tracking, mixing, and/or mastering engineer for artists such as Paul Barnes, Jackie Allen, Hans Sturm, François Rabbath, Diane Barger, Hannah Huston, Jandy Shin, The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, The Concordia String Trio, Brad Colerick, and others.

  Tom is also the author of three textbooks, The History and Tradition of Jazz (6th ed.), Modern Sounds: The Artistry of Contemporary Jazz (2nd ed.), and The History of Rock and Roll (6th ed.), all of which are published by Kendall/Hunt Publishing (Dubuque, IA). He has released two albums of original jazz compositions, Flashback (2003), and Focus (2019). He has studied jazz piano with Dean Earle, Fred Hersch, Bruce Barth, and Kenny Werner, jazz arranging with Herb Pomeroy, and music composition with Robert Beadell and Randall Snyder. In addition to performing with jazz ensembles throughout the Midwest and East Coast, he has performed with The Tokyo Brass Art Orchestra, Paul Shaffer, Victor Lewis, Dave Stryker, John Ellis, Jerry Bergonzi, Chris Potter, Alex Riel, Howard Levy, Jackie Allen, Bobby Shew, Claude Williams, Bo Diddley, the Omaha Symphony, the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, and Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra.

  A Lincoln native, Tom received a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is also an avid runner and completed the Boston Marathon in 2005, 2006, and 2007.