Biography
PRESENT WORK WITH MUSIC centers around being a versatile musician for musical composition, performance, and multimedia productions. Komposer MD has original and arranged music for various kinds of audio environments: Concert choral and instrumental classical works, jazz, film, tv, commercials, sound design, soundtracks, telecasting, web streaming, and gaming.
PRIVATE MUSIC EDUCATION
Latisha Hirschfeld, piano; Doris Mason, University of the Arts, piano; Nancy Edison, Blue Mountain Academy, organ; Robert Plimpton, University of the Arts and Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, organ; Dr. J. Edward Hoy, Settlement School of Music and Tindley Temple United Methodist Church, organ; Dr. Allen Breach, Howard University Department of Music, organ; Dr. Gordon Jones, Saint Peter's Lutheran Church, New York City, organ.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Music analysis, fugue, ear training, harmonization-composition, and general music knowledge. The practical part consists of composing, sight reading, transposition, figured bass, harmonization, and improvisation.
CERTIFICATE in Introduction to The Music Business, John P. Kellogg, Instructor, Berklee College of Music
MASTER CLASSES
African American spirituals, Moses Hogan, Instructor; Improvisation [organ], Bruce Neswick, Instructor; Evolution of French Organ Music [1870 - 1940], Claire Coche, Instructor; Music of Franck [organ], Wilma Jensen, Instructor; Vocal music and Conducting, Dr. Nathan Carter, Conductor; Professor Glenn Halsey, Conductor; Dr. Kay Pace, Conductor, Choirs: Clark Atlanta University Concert Choir; Morgan State University Concert Choir; Conducting, Hampton University Conference, Carl Haywood, Conductor
WORKSHOPS
African American spirituals, Dennis McNeill, Instructor; Jazz, Shirley Scott, Instructor; Jazz, Audrey Shakir, Instructor
WORKING EXPERIENCES
Choirs, vocalists, instrumental live performances (e.g., organ recitals), composing, arranging, recording, and multimedia productions; Accompanist (piano), The Seven Last Words (Theodore Dubois), Dr. Melva Costen, Conductor, Interdenominational Theological Center Choir, Atlanta, GA; Accompanist (organ), Requiem (Gabriel Faure), Dr. Lynda Elliott, Conductor, Church of the Master Choir, New York City; Napoli School of Music, Teaching piano and basic music theory; Conductor, The Merry Widow, Municipal Opera Company of Baltimore; Accompanist (organ), Gloria (John Rutter), Eric Cui, Conductor, Wayne United Methodist Church Choir with Instrumental Ensemble, Wayne, PA; Accompanist (organ), Gloria (Antonio Vivaldi), Eric Cui, Conductor, Wayne United Methodist Church Choir with Main Line Orchestra, Wayne, PA; Accompanist (organ), The Messiah (George F. Handel), Eric Cui, Conductor, Wayne United Methodist Church Choir with Main Line Orchestra, Wayne, PA; Messiah Workshop, W. Russell Johnson Guild of NANM, Conductors, Karen L. Thomas, Gloria E. Todd, Accompanists, John Custis, Michael Fortson; Greater Saint Matthew Independent Church Choir, Music Director and Organist; Music Score: Theme and Variations on "Let Us Break Bread Together" for "Feeding Freedom," Greg Morrison, Film Director; Amahl and The Night Visitors, J. Robert Adams, Conductor, Clark Atlanta University School of Arts and Sciences Department of Music, Organ, Karen L. Thomas, Piano, Trey Clegg, Flute, Denise Willingham-Huewitt, Rehearsal pianist, Philip V. Skerritt, Jr.; Who Was That Man, Barbara Sherrill, Conductor, Accompanist, Karen L. Thomas; Kathye Gary-Adams, Soprano soloist, Accompanist, Karen L. Thomas; A Celebration Mass (A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A Drum Major for Justice, 50th Commemorative Year), Dr. Sharon J. Willis, Conductor, Pianists, Phillip V. Skerritt Jr. and Karen L. Thomas
ORGANIZATIONS
American Guild of Organists, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, and the National Association of Negro Musicians
Karen L. Thomas is a graduate of Cheyney University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry and has a dual career in scientific medicine, public health science, and music. She obtained a Master of Science degree in Medical Biology from the C. W. Post College of Long Island University, a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Technologic University of Santiago, and Doctoral work in Anatomy from New York University.
She has working experiences in medicine and the physical sciences as a public health physician at the Moscoso Puello Hospital [Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic], analytical microscopy at Hercules, Inc., research in immunology at Morehouse School of Medicine, an Adjunct Professor at Baltimore City Community College, a member of Morgan State University's Complementary and Alternative Medicine [CAM] Advisory Board, and is an active researcher in the areas of ecosystemology and interdisciplinary academia.
Dr. Thomas is the author of a book entitled, The Ecology of Coronary Heart Disease, which is available online.