We will have a special Thursday edition of Music Wednesdays today at noon on Facebook Live. Thomas West is coming in to sing a little opera with a friend or two to show us some of what he has learned the last three years while a student at The Juilliard School in New York.
You might remember West as the McCallie student who created the Let Beauty Awaken nonprofit in 2013. It has since re-formed as ReGenerate and serves as an arts leadership program for high school students in Hamilton County. They do everything from arts advocacy events to fundraising.
Barry Courter
West is on pace to get a bachelor of music in vocal performance from Juilliard next spring. Besides hoping to perform opera professionally in the future, he wants to find new ways to use the arts to change the world. Those are my words, but if you've talked to West for more than about 60 seconds, you know that he will, in fact, change the world.
"I have a lot of different interests beyond just being a performer," he said last week.
"I feel very much called to be an artist, and I think it can take many forms. I think it's important that artists of today are teaching artists. We should be not only performers but also advocates."
West said he has "no idea what the next five years will look like, but I am constantly trying to challenge myself."
"I do know I'll be fighting for arts education, doing more with opera and even creating an opera company that fights for opera being relevant. I do also love being onstage and performing."
He is currently creating projects as part of his school work that involves the audience in an interactive way.
"I've come to see art as a dialogue or experiential thing where it is more than a message in a bottle."
For a recent opera performance, audience members were invited to some early rehearsals so they could watch the interaction between singers, orchestra members, set designers and directors.
"It was like being in a lab where everyone could see how things were being created," he said.
West and company will be in today at noon. You can watch their performance live at facebook.com/timesfreepress and later at timesfreepress.com/music, where you can also check out previous editions of Music Wednesdays.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.