Thomas Dawkins
Vocal Coach/Music Coach
Thomas Dawkins graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Brandeis University, with the Highest Honors in Music, and was the first recipient of the Ira Gershwin Prize for excellence in music performance. Since then, his multifaceted career has seen him in a number of roles, but teaching has always been central to his musical identity. His teaching philosophy is simple, and the only requirement to work with him is a genuine desire to improve and to work hard.
He recognizes that many musicians have a teacher and coach and a set of people with whom they usually work and that sometimes a problem comes up that doesn’t seem to have an answer, or else these usual people cannot find a way to conquer it. Going to a new person and getting their point of view can be a breakthrough, not because the new person is necessarily more skilled, but because they can approach the problem in a way that is new to the musician. Asking focused questions and receiving focused, direct answers can be the key to succeeding where others have failed.
Thomas was the Music Director of the Congregational Church of Harvard, UCC, for nearly eleven years. Earlier in his career, he did work as a substitute organist at St. Peter’s Church of Weston, the Follen Church of Lexington, as well as Temple B’nai Torah of Sudbury and Boston Jewish Spirit. As a piano accompanist and vocal coach, he was on staff at the Longy School of Music for several years as well as working with several private teachers (including the late Robert Honeysucker) and has coached for New England Light Opera, Opera Brittenica, Opera on Tap, and Greater Worcester Opera. Former clients of his have sung in such wide-reaching venues as San Francisco Opera, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center.
As a solo keyboardist, he has performed with several orchestras in the Boston area, in recital at the Newton Free Library, and his recording of Chopin’s “Raindrop” Prelude was selected for the Carnegie Hall education website in 2014. He also played for four episodes of the radio game show Says You! on NPR in 2016. As a baritone chorister, he lent his voice to ensembles from Boston Baroque and the Handel + Haydn Society of Boston (with whom he appears on five recordings) to Renaissance Men and the soundtrack to Final Fantasy XV and Hans Zimmer Live. As a solo singer, he has done opera and oratorio with a number of Boston-area groups. His YouTube channel, which has over 130,000 view...
Features:
- #opera
- #church
- music
- #auditions
- #vocal
- coach
- #piano
- #organ
- #ornaments
- #chamber
- music
- #musical
- theatre
Languages:
- English
- French
Instruments:
Vocal Feedback
Recorder Feedback
Audition Feedback
Featured work
https://youtu.be/lId3kEI-GjI
https://youtu.be/Kj5VZHxWvEY
Thomas Dawkins
Vocal Coach/Music Coach
Vocal Feedback
Recorder Feedback
Audition Feedback
Thomas Dawkins graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Brandeis University, with the Highest Honors in Music, and was the first recipient of the Ira Gershwin Prize for excellence in music performance. Since then, his multifaceted career has seen him in a number of roles, but teaching has always been central to his musical identity. His teaching philosophy is simple, and the only requirement to work with him is a genuine desire to improve and to work hard.
He recognizes that many musicians have a teacher and coach and a set of people with whom they usually work and that sometimes a problem comes up that doesn’t seem to have an answer, or else these usual people cannot find a way to conquer it. Going to a new person and getting their point of view can be a breakthrough, not because the new person is necessarily more skilled, but because they can approach the problem in a way that is new to the musician. Asking focused questions and receiving focused, direct answers can be the key to succeeding where others have failed.
Thomas was the Music Director of the Congregational Church of Harvard, UCC, for nearly eleven years. Earlier in his career, he did work as a substitute organist at St. Peter’s Church of Weston, the Follen Church of Lexington, as well as Temple B’nai Torah of Sudbury and Boston Jewish Spirit. As a piano accompanist and vocal coach, he was on staff at the Longy School of Music for several years as well as working with several private teachers (including the late Robert Honeysucker) and has coached for New England Light Opera, Opera Brittenica, Opera on Tap, and Greater Worcester Opera. Former clients of his have sung in such wide-reaching venues as San Francisco Opera, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center.
As a solo keyboardist, he has performed with several orchestras in the Boston area, in recital at the Newton Free Library, and his recording of Chopin’s “Raindrop” Prelude was selected for the Carnegie Hall education website in 2014. He also played for four episodes of the radio game show Says You! on NPR in 2016. As a baritone chorister, he lent his voice to ensembles from Boston Baroque and the Handel + Haydn Society of Boston (with whom he appears on five recordings) to Renaissance Men and the soundtrack to Final Fantasy XV and Hans Zimmer Live. As a solo singer, he has done opera and oratorio with a number of Boston-area groups. His YouTube channel, which has over 130,000 view...