Programs & Booking
Live percussion, film scores, immersive sound practice, and hands-on music education for venues, festivals, schools, and communities.
Explore the Programs
Solo Percussion
Tom brings global percussion, jazz improvisation and live looping to solo concerts and lecture-demonstrations. The programs range from the quiet resonance of the handpan to participatory performances built around rhythm games and storytelling.
Drumming Through Cultures and Time
Tom brings African, Indian, and Middle Eastern rhythms into conversation with American jazz through live looping, improvisation, and storytelling. Available as a solo concert or lecture-demonstration.
Handpan Illuminations
Tom builds a meditative solo concert around the handpan’s melody and resonance, weaving in frame drums, gongs and flute to expand its range of textures.
Percussion Playground
Tom brings families and community audiences into the music through rhythm games, storytelling and spontaneous composition, adapting the level of participation to the group.
Program & Booking Info
- Designed For
- Concert and festival presenters, schools, museums, libraries and community organizations.
- Program Elements
- Global percussion and cultural storytelling, a resonant handpan concert, or participatory rhythm games and spontaneous composition.
- Typical Length
- Drumming Through Cultures and Time runs 45–60 minutes for school and community programs, 60–75 minutes for concerts and lecture-demonstrations, and 90 minutes or longer for workshops. Timing for Handpan Illuminations and Percussion Playground is available on inquiry.
- Presentation Options
- Solo concert, lecture-demonstration, workshop or interactive family and community performance.
The Art of the Duo
Tom pairs with musicians whose instruments and traditions bring a distinct voice to each collaboration. Close listening and improvisation connect the performances, whether he is working with jazz trumpet, Celtic violin, yangqin or bansuri.
Dave Ballou
Dave Ballou’s post-bop trumpet meets Tom’s global percussion in spontaneous, chamber-scale dialogue. The collaboration is documented on Inner Play and Lunch Break.
Dong Xi with Chao Tian
Chao Tian’s yangqin and Tom’s percussion bring Chinese folk traditions into contemporary improvisation. Their exchange grew out of work in China and is documented on Out of the Blue.
Chelle Fulk
Chelle Fulk’s violin brings Celtic melody into dialogue with global percussion. The two artists improvise together in Celtic Fire, drawing on the rhythmic character of the tunes.
John Wubbenhorst
Bansuri and percussion meet in Raga and Rhythm, a collaboration built around the dialogue between John Wubbenhorst’s flute melodies and Tom’s improvised percussion.
Program & Booking Info
- Designed For
- Concert halls, festivals and interdisciplinary presenters.
- Program Elements
- Improvisation and musical dialogue shaped by Tom and his guest artist.
- Typical Length
- Set length depends on the pairing. Ask about timing when you inquire.
- Presentation Options
- Featured duo concert or a collaboration developed with a presenter and guest artist. Guest formats can include spoken word, movement or visual art.
Sounds You Can See
Tom pairs live percussion and original sound with silent cinema, experimental film and abstract video. Each performance follows the movement and pacing of the images, from Chaplin and Keaton shorts to early avant-garde films.
Live Film Score Concerts
Tom shapes his live percussion and electronics around the movement, comic timing, and suspense of silent films, from Chaplin and Keaton shorts to Metropolis, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, and Nosferatu.
Video Art and Dada Rediscovered
Tom choreographs original sound to the rhythms of abstract video, archival imagery, and avant-garde film, including works by Man Ray and Hans Richter and Ballet Mécanique.
Program & Booking Info
- Designed For
- Cinemas, galleries, experimental film programs, concert presenters and educational hosts.
- Program Elements
- Original live sound for silent cinema, avant-garde film, abstract video and archival images.
- Typical Length
- Varies by repertoire and any post-screening discussion.
- Presentation Options
- Feature film or selected shorts with a live score, a screening with a talkback on live scoring and sound design, or a live audiovisual performance.
Wellness & Sound Practice
Tom uses improvised sound, rhythm and silence to create space for deep listening and reflection. Formats range from sound journeys and guided listening to live accompaniment that responds to breath, pace and movement.
BioRhythms | Live Sound Journey
Tom improvises with handpan, frame drums, gongs, electronics and silence. The session centers on deep listening, with optional rhythm, breath or movement in some formats.
Sound Meditation & Listening Sessions
Tom shapes sound and pacing around guided attention, adapting each listening session to the group, facilitator and room in retreat, wellness, educational or community settings.
Yoga & Movement Integration
Tom improvises a live soundscape with a yoga or movement facilitator, using percussion and resonance to respond to participants’ breath, pace and movement as the session unfolds.
Rhythm-Based Wellness Programs
Participants use simple rhythms to explore coordination, creative expression and shared attention. The format invites the group to make music together through accessible rhythmic activities.
Program & Booking Info
- Designed For
- Retreat hosts, wellness spaces, community groups, educational settings and movement facilitators.
- Program Elements
- Live improvised sound, resonance and silence. Some sessions include rhythm, breath or movement.
- Typical Length
- Varies by session and facilitator. Ask about duration when you inquire.
- Presentation Options
- Receptive sound journey, guided listening session, or live accompaniment with a yoga or movement facilitator. Ask about participatory group formats.
Lectures & Speaking
Tom uses live playing and personal stories to explore how rhythm travels between cultures and shapes shared experience. His talks draw on his Cultural Envoy work and his exploration of rhythm, attention and listening.
Drumming Through Cultures and Time
Tom traces how percussion instruments and rhythms travel across cultures and eras, using live demonstrations and stories to connect ancient frame drums, African balafons, and contemporary approaches.
Music as Diplomacy
Drawing on his Cultural Envoy work, Tom combines personal stories and live playing to explore how music can open a conversation across cultural and linguistic boundaries.
BioRhythms | Lecture format
Tom explores rhythm, attention and shared experience in a talk that considers how rhythmic patterns can shape the way people listen and connect in a group.
Program & Booking Info
- Designed For
- Universities, cultural organizations, and audiences interested in cultural exchange or sound practice.
- Program Elements
- Live percussion demonstrations, instrument history, Cultural Envoy stories, and ideas about rhythm and attention.
- Typical Length
- The published lecture-demonstration range is 60–75 minutes. Ask about timing for the specific talk.
- Presentation Options
- Lecture or lecture-demonstration. Ask about live demonstrations and audience discussion for the selected talk.
Community & School Programs
Tom brings live percussion, storytelling and shared music-making to schools, families and community gatherings. Programs can take the form of an assembly, family concert or hands-on workshop, with participation shaped around the audience.
School Assemblies & Family Concerts
Live world percussion, stories and instrument demonstrations introduce students and families to rhythm and cultural context. Participants get a chance to take part in the music.
Rhythm Workshops & Drum Circles
Tom guides participants in group rhythm and shared music-making, adapting the workshop or drum circle to the age, experience and setting of the people taking part.
Community & Outreach Performances
Tom brings live percussion and cultural storytelling to festivals, public gatherings and community venues, with participatory elements tailored to the audience and the host’s setting.
Program & Booking Info
- Designed For
- K–12 schools, libraries, families, festivals and community organizations.
- Program Elements
- Live percussion, storytelling, instrument demonstrations and hands-on rhythm. School formats can connect music with classroom subjects.
- Typical Length
- School and community programs typically run 45–60 minutes. Longer workshops are available by arrangement.
- Presentation Options
- School assembly, family concert, facilitated drum circle, workshop or public performance. Ask about virtual school formats and teacher resources.
Teaching & Residencies
Tom teaches rhythm and percussion through practical work on technique, listening and improvisation. Institutions can combine clinics and performances in a multi-day residency, while individual musicians can pursue private study or mentorship.
Clinics & Workshops
Rhythmic Training for All Musicians
Instrumentalists, vocalists, composers and educators work on rhythm through practical exercises in listening, coordination and responsiveness, developing skills they can apply to their own musical practice.
Private Study & Mentorship
Private Instruction
Tom offers individual study in person or online, tailoring each lesson to a student’s goals in drum set, world percussion, improvisation, hybrid setups or live looping.
Guided Professional Mentorship
Advanced students and working musicians receive individual guidance as they refine their artistic direction, develop their creative practice and work through decisions about their next professional steps.
Residencies
Tom works with schools, universities and cultural organizations to build multi-day visits around their goals, combining clinics, masterclasses, performances and opportunities for student collaboration.
Program & Booking Info
- Designed For
- Universities, schools, conservatories, cultural institutions, serious students and working musicians.
- Program Elements
- Hands-on rhythm work, technique, improvisation and individual guidance.
- Typical Length
- Workshops typically run 90 minutes or longer. Residencies run 3–5 days. Ask about timing for clinics and individual study.
- Presentation Options
- Clinics and masterclasses can be booked as standalone sessions or built into a residency. Workshops, private instruction in person or online, and mentorship are also available.