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Quick Overview of Thomas Gunther’s Musical Activities
Thomas Gunther is a contemporary pianist, composer, arranger & orchestrator, music producer, and music educator.
He is the founder of his Chicago-based company, Thomas Gunther Music Services, and PopJazzKeys.com
Thomas’ Career in Chicago
Born and raised in Germany, Thomas moved to Chicago in 1997 shortly after receiving his Master’s Degree in teaching and performing jazz and popular music (with an emphasis on piano/keyboard performance) from the State University for the Performing Arts in Stuttgart, Germany.
Thomas began his life and career in Chicago by studying sound engineering. By the end of the first semester, he was offered (and accepted) the role of pianist for the acclaimed Chicago Jazz Ensemble, led by composer/arranger William Russo (Music Director of the Stan Kenton Orchestra).
Thomas Produced many CD’s under his name throughout his career.
He has produced several CD’s since moving to Chicago, collaborating with some of the finest musicians the city has to offer, including trumpeter, composer, and leader of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Orbert Davis.
Instructor at Columbia College Chicago
In addition to his role with the ensemble, Thomas was also offered a teaching position at Columbia College Chicago where he has been heavily involved in shaping the curriculum for the Contemporary Urban Music Program by designing syllabi for courses such as Pop/Jazz Theory, Contemporary Music Production, Arranging and Orchestration, and Pop/Jazz Keyboards. He also teaches music technology classes and pop-jazz piano/keyboard private lessons at the College and outside the College. In addition, Thomas served as the college’s ambassador for the student exchange program with the Pop Academy in Mannheim, Germany.
Gary Yerkins about Thomas
(Director of Urban Music Program, Columbia College Chicago)“Thomas has been an effective, versatile and passionate teacher in our Contemporary, Urban and Popular Music program for the past 12 years. Having served on the development committee for the program, Thomas was able to apply his insights into the unique needs of our curriculum in developing key courses for our upper-level students. In particular, Thomas created the syllabi and instructional content for Pop/Jazz Theory and Pop/Jazz Arranging and Orchestration, both courses which helped define and deliver the unique materials, skills and language necessary to our BMus students. Thomas brings an enormous amount of passion to his classroom, and has developed extensive written and media-based instructional materials for these and other classes. Whether engaging with our most advanced students, or teaching more the elemental levels of music core classes, he works hard to educate and inspire. Thomas has been and continues to be a key member of our team.”