And the beat goes on

One day during the fourth grade, Tom Toner ’00E (DMA) and his classmates watched and listened to a full array of instruments that a music company brought into their school. They demonstrated flutes, French horns, and everything in between. Toner was in awe and longed to play the trombone.

“The trombone wasn’t in the cards for me though,” says Toner, who was born with a cleft palette that physically limited his playing options. “I just couldn’t focus the air the right way.” So, he took up the piano.

In the 7th grade, Toner’s music teacher listened to him play. He was excited with the boy’s potential and soon called his mother. He told her that her son had talent and should take up another instrument. That teacher introduced him to percussion, and Toner took to it right away.

Tom Toner ’00E (DMA)

Serendipity and snare drums

By the time he was 18 years old, Toner had already landed a seat with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO). A few years later, he would become its principal percussionist. “It was a case of being in the right place at the right time,” he explains. “One of VSO’s percussionist’s couldn’t make a concert so a friend asked me to fill in. I did, and I’ve been in the orchestra ever since.”

Toner enjoys percussion’s diversity. He’s played bongos, snare drums, drum sets, frame drums, marimbas, and more. “Everything about being a percussionist requires thought and coordination, including how to set up your instruments to work best for all the pieces you will play and in the order in which you will play them,” he says. “These logistics matter and can be both challenging and rewarding.” 

A university professor

After earning degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Yale University, and Eastman, and doing some teaching at the college level along the way, Toner returned to his home state of Vermont. A full-time position at the University of Vermont had opened up and he took it. He’s been a music professor there now for 25 years.

Toner particularly enjoys teaching non-music majors. “When people come into my class or join one of the music groups I conduct, they are there because they want to be. They aren’t required to participate but because they love music, they make time for it in their lives. It’s very fulfilling to work with them.”

Career milestones

With the VSO, Toner’s played the Carl Nielson’s Clarinet Concerto with Richard Stolzman, a clarinet virtuoso. “That performance stands out because of the prominent role on the snare drum. It served as the antagonist to Stolzman’s clarinet, and it was a magical, memorable experience.”

Through UVM, Toner’s led three trips to China, bringing students with him to play at the Inner Mongolian University Arts College. “There’s so much to take in and learn in that kind of situation, from the music itself, to serving as a the lead host to the Chinese as well as guide for our students, to working through language barriers, to understanding and anticipating cultural expectations. Those were remarkable trips,” he adds.

UVM facilitated another career milestone: conducting a wind ensemble performance of Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” with William Warfield ’42E and ’46E (MM) as narrator. As the son of a sharecropper and Baptist minister, Warfield would grow up to be a concert baritone singer, an activist, and one of Eastman’s most famous alumni.

“William Warfield was 81 years old at the time. His great-grandparents were slaves who were freed after the Civil War,” says Toner. “He had the speech memorized and his performance was extremely powerful. This yielded a connection with the audience unlike anything I had ever seen.”

Few percussionists can also claim that they’ve played with the legendary fan band, Phish. But, Toner has. He was part of the Clifford Ball Orchestra, which played pieces by Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky during a multi-day eclectic music festival. Phish hosted the music and carnival-like extravaganza on an old Plattsburgh, N.Y. air force base in 1996. “Performing in front of 70,000 Phish fans is something I will never forget,” adds Toner.

Toner also played on two studio albums with Phish’s lead singer, Trey Anastasio. “Trey and his bandmates have classical music training,” he says. “Their high regard for all types of music added to a whole, very positive and fun experience.”

Eastman’s lasting influence

Over the years, Toner has never forgotten Eastman’s role in his life, as a musician, a teacher, and a person. “Eastman, through the example of its faculty, taught me to become the teacher I am today. Their enthusiasm for both music and teaching was infectious. Throughout my career, I’ve strived to emulate what I was taught.”

Read a letter Tom Toner ’00E (DMA) recently wrote to his alma mater about his time at the Eastman School of Music.