Omar Thomas (b. 1984) began life in Brooklyn as the son of Guyanese parents. After completing an undergraduate music education degree at James Madison University, he set off for Boston and the New England Conservatory, where he earned a Master of Music degree in jazz composition. While completing this program, at age 23, he was appointed to the faculty of the Berklee College of Music to teach harmony. After several years teaching at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, he begins a faculty appointment at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas, Austin in Fall of 2020. He studied with Ken Schaphorst, Frank Carlberg, and Maria Schneider. His music of all sorts (original jazz charts, arrangements, and classical pieces) has been winning awards for years, including the first ever William Revelli Composition Prize to be awarded to an African-American composer (for 2018’s Come Sunday). He is a relatively recent arrival to the wind band world: his first piece in the genre was 2016’s Of Our New Day Begun. But he has continued to write path-breaking pieces for bands (5 of them at this writing), and has joined up with other young wind band composers in the Blue Dot Collective to promote and publish his award-winning music. Read more about him at his website, Berklee College of Music, and the Wind Repertory Project.
Thomas wrote A Mother of a Revolution! in 2019. It has a strong message of social justice. From his program notes (to which I’ve added links):
This piece is a celebration of the bravery of trans women, and in particular, Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson. Marsha is credited with being one of the instigators of the famous Stonewall uprising of June 28, 1969 – one of the pivotal events of the LGBTQ liberation movement of the 20th century – which is commemorated annually during the worldwide Gay Pride celebrations. Existing as a trans woman, especially a trans woman of color, and daring to live authentically, creating space for oneself in a transphobic world is one of the bravest acts I can imagine. Over 20 trans women were murdered in the United States in 2018 alone. There is no demographic more deserving, and frankly, long overdue for highlighted heroism and bravery. The disco vibe in the latter half of the piece is meant to honor club culture, a sacred space held amongst LGBTQ persons in which to love, live, mourn, heal, strategize, connect, disconnect, and dance in defiance of those outside forces who would seek to do LGBTQ persons harm simply for daring to exist and take up space.
We pump our fists to honor the life, heroism, activism, and bravery of Marsha P. Johnson, to honor the legacy of the Stonewall revolution, to honor the memory of the trans lives violently ended due to fear and hatred, and in honor of trans women worldwide who continue to exist unapologetically and who demand to be seen.
This piece was commissioned by the Desert Winds Freedom Band, under the direction of Dean McDowell, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
Hear the University of Miami Frost Wind Ensemble play it (and follow along in the score if you’d like):
See more about this piece at Omar Thomas’s website and the Wind Repertory Project. Omar Thomas has made a ton of online media appearances recently – check him out on the Everything Band Podcast, and Band Director Dot Com.
Finally, here is a brief portrait of Marsha P. Johnson: