A genius at the intersection

In the spring of 1991, with George Washington Hall under construction and no proper venue in sight, William Thomas made a bold decision—he was going to stage a full Mozart opera. He had seven weeks to pull it off, in Italian, with an entirely student cast.

“We had to improvise,” laughs Faculty Emeritus Christopher Walter P ’01, ’03 who met Thomas, a beloved instructor and chair of music, in 1977, when Walter initially came to Andover to teach French. “He got the orchestra space in Doherty Middle School to perform. Was the end result perfect? No. But William had big vision, and at the heart of that was giving students latitude and resources so they could dream. It was astonishing that he even saw this big plan to completion—and I guarantee that every student who was there still remembers the experience.”

Thomas joined Andover’s music department in 1975, where he worked as an instructor and department chair until 1989 and was director of performance from 1989 to 2008. For those who knew him, he wasn’t just a teacher or a composer; he was a conductor of possibility and a believer in the power of music to change lives.

“He worked pieces like Mozart’s Requiem past your brain, past your blood, and into your bones,” recalls Lilli Lewis ’93, a professional musician based in New Orleans. “He was joy and sass and totally demanding—but he made miracles through music.”

A pioneer at the Academy, Thomas was instrumental in making music part of the curriculum and creating new and exciting opportunities for students, including establishing the gospel choir and chamber music programs, founding Andover’s Black Arts Weekend, which highlights the artistry of the Black community and the importance of diversity and inclusion, and leading annual concert tours to numerous global destinations for choir and orchestra students.

“When William started the orchestra, it consisted of a dozen students. There were four or five violins, now there are 50,” Walter says. “An exceptional piece of his legacy was introducing a music requirement for all students. Not only did it expand the number of faculty who were available to students, it impacts every student at Andover in unique and personal ways.”

After taking the required music course last term, Hannah Jung ’28 discovered a starting place to more critical listening.

“We analyzed the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and why it has remained a popular tune even many decades later,” Jung says. “What sounded like a simple melody at first actually has layers upon layers of details and purposeful motives. From specific rhythmic patterns in the English language—think Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter—to underlying chord progressions in some of the greatest pop hits of our time, music surrounds us always and helps us communicate and portray feelings and emotions.”

Thomas died in 2013 in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. The William Thomas classroom is strategically located next to the Christopher Walter practice studio in Falls Music Center, symbolizing the music program legends’ decades-long relationship as colleagues and friends.