Thomas Willmann is the new visiting Director of Instrumental Studies and Professor of Music Education at Texas Wesleyan University and serves as an adjunct professor of music education at Texas Christian University. He is a music educator, conductor, instrumentalist, and composer/arranger. He earned his Ph.D. in 2022 from Florida State University in Music Education with an emphasis on Instrumental Conducting, his Master’s of Music Education in 2016 with an Instrumental Conducting cognate from the University of Colorado Boulder, and his Bachelor’s degree in 2005 in Music Education with a focus on Instrumental music from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was a music educator for primary and secondary levels for fourteen years in Colorado and Indiana.
Thomas taught K-12, Band, Choir, and General Music for private, charter, and public schools. To further his education and experience, he frequented conducting symposiums at the University of Colorado Greeley (seven years) and the University of Toronto. The experiences have included instruction from guest clinicians Colonel Michael Colburn, Colonel Lowell Graham, Craig Kirchhoff, Ray Cramer, Julie Giroux, Richard Saucedo, Alfred Watkins, Bruce Pearson, Loras Schissel, Richard Blatti, Dick Mayne, Anthony Maiello, Jeff Reynolds, Gillian MacKay, and Wendy McCallum.
The trombone is Thomas’ primary instrument and he has been actively playing for nearly 30 years. He has performed in the United States, Austria, and St. Petersberg, Russia. He plays principal trombone with the Great Fort Worth Community and is a guest conductor regularly. He was the principal trombone for the Little London Winds in Colorado Springs and performed with the Colorado State University (CSU) Symphony Orchestra and Soli Deo Gloria (Colorado). Thomas is a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), Florida Music Education Association (FMEA), Colorado Music Educators Association (CMEA), Florida Bandmaster’s Association (FBA), International Society of Music Educators (ISME), and College Band Director’s National Association (CBDNA). He is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Kappa Psi. Thomas has held teaching certificates in Indiana, Colorado, and Texas (current).
He has compositions for Concert Band, Flex-Band, Small Ensembles/Chamber, and Instrumental Solos.
Thomas enjoys a wide variety of activities such as cycling, snowboarding, rock climbing, tennis, running (sometimes), wildlife photography, and camping.
