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Bio
Tom Kersey is a cellist and composer based in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Drawing from a wide variety of influences, he is a composer and performer of art music which incorporates elements of classical, rock, jazz, avant-garde, improvisation, and folk music from around the world. Tom frequently performs as a soloist, with chamber groups, orchestras, with his own groups KELP, Douce Ambiance, the Dragieva String Quartet and Lush Progress, as well as with national touring acts such as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Classic Albums Live. As a composer, Tom is available for commission to compose concert or film music. He is also available for hire as an arranger/orchestrator of pre-existing music. Tom has had works performed by the Florida Orchestra, and his composition for piano trio called Soiree was performed at Symphony Space in New York City as part of the American Composers Alliance Festival of American Music. As a performer, Tom is available for hire to play solo or as part of an ensemble for concerts, recording sessions, and special events. Tom also has a private studio of cello students and is available to teach lessons. To commission a composition, for booking information, or to inquire about lessons, contact Tom at Tom@TomKersey.com or 813.784.4575. Tom Kersey was born in Clearwater, Florida on May 12th, 1981. He was an only child and early on showed a tendency to speak completely rational nonsense. As a child, Tom's main interests were: creating art, dinosaurs, airplanes, He-Man, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His early musical influences were: Michael Jackson, Tchaikovsky, 50's pop, the Judds, Basia, Jimmy Buffet, the soundtrack to the hit film Top Gun, and Garth Brooks. Participating in chorus and recorder ensemble in elementary school were Tom's first organized musical experiences. Tom really wanted to play the cello, but his family's fincancial situtuation did not permit it. During middle school, Tom's musical taste shifted to rock music which was popular at the time, including bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, and Pearl Jam. It was during this time that he began his first semi-serious study and practice of a musical instrument; the guitar. The budding composer wrote his first songs at this time, using simple vocal melodies accompanied by basic chord progressions played on guitar. Listening to recordings of these first songs, Tom only wishes he could write and perform such pure music today. As Tom moved on to high school, his musical interests turned mainly to punk rock and ska. Tom served as guitarist, vocalist, and composer for several punk bands, and as he became interested in ska music, he taught himself to play the saxophone. For several years Tom served as saxophonist and composer for the Jonny Fives, an instrumental ska band which he founded and which attained a modest degree of local success. At their height, the Jonny Fives played with one of the biggest names in ska; an internationally known band from England called the Toasters. As his musical hunger led him to seek out forms of aural expression which were unknown to him, Tom began to be influenced by 20th century classical composers such as Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky. Jazz also became more attractive, especially Thelonious Monk. During most of Tom's high school education, he was a visual arts major at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. The allure of music proved to be too strong though, and during his junior year Tom began to play the cello and was accepted to the Dreyfoos music program his senior year. At this time Tom also began to compose in a more classical style, writing for instrumentations such as solo cello, solo piano, string quartet, cello and guitar, and string orchestra. In 1999, after playing the cello and composing classical music for a little over a year, Tom was accepted to the University of South Florida as a composition major and cello student. While attending USF, Tom gained a reputation as one of the school's most talented composers. Two of his pieces were performed by the Florida Orchestra, and he was asked to perform his solo cello piece "Potential Energy" for a USF gradutation ceremony. Studying with international cello soloist Scott Kluksdahl, Tom also became known as a passionate and expressive cellist whose interests encompassed and went beyond the standard classical repetoire. Currently Tom is a full-time performer, composer, and educator. Tom's mother, Pat Kersey, is an eccentric singer/guitarist/songwriter who was actively involved in the Florida folk music scene during the 1960's and '70s. Pat has been a vocalist for various bands and was part of Tampa Bay Opera for a time. One of her claims to fame is an original song she composed for a public access TV show in which she explains Florida's aquatic food chain, sings the praises of estuaries, and makes reference to pools of "primordial ooze" as being the "ancestral beginnings of us all". Currently, Pat sings with a big band comprised of senior citizens. Tom's father, Thomas George Kersey, died of cancer in February of 2004. A pilot, ladies's man, and ameteur electric bass player, the enigmatically brilliant and emotionally gaurded Tom senior explains another aspect of his son's personality. Tom Sr. was head pilot of the Paxson Communications Flight Department, and was considered the consumation of piloting excellence by all who flew with him. |