By Aren Framil
When he isn\u2019t conducting or teaching, Thomas W. Douglas can be seen around campus with his dog Bette, or sitting in his decorated office in Margaret Morrison, nicknamed \u201cThe Dougout.\u201d The walls are covered with posters, the shelves are stacked with CDs and sheet music, and various theater memorabilia surround the comfortable chairs and desk in the center of the room.
By June 1, Douglas will have to clear out The Dougout as he steps down from his position as Director of Choral Activities and Opera Studies for the School of Music. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Douglas never thought he would make music his career. It was only after a year at PennWest Clarion University as a biology major that he switched to music education and began a decades-long career as a singer, conductor, artistic director,
and professor.
\u201cMy father was a funeral director, and so there was always a piano down near the dead bodies, and I used to pick out songs. So my parents decided to give me piano lessons,\u201d Douglas said. \u201cI played all through high school, but I never planned to be a working musician.\u201d
After graduating from PennWest Clarion with a Bachelor of Arts in music education, Douglas taught at a high school for three years before returning to Pittsburgh to get his graduate degree in vocal performance from Duquesne. After graduating, the obvious next step was to \u201cjoin the Pittsburgh Opera, of course, and that\u2019s when my career started to really take off.\u201d Along with working at the opera, Douglas joined the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh as a core member during graduate school. He eventually founded what would become the Pittsburgh East Chorale to perform Handel\u2019s \u201cMessiah.\u201d After running the group for around seven years, Douglas left the U.S. with his then-wife and two young kids to conduct a production of \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d in Switzerland, ultimately totalling 400 performances in the year. \u201cPhantom was the best thing I did, because it really propelled my career forward. Andrew [Lloyd Webber] was smart to write this show. You can\u2019t lose writing Phantom of the Opera, because it has mystery and intrigue and love and murder, and it\u2019s a great theatrical piece,\u201d Douglas said. \u201cWhen I got back from [conducting], more people started hiring me because, with Phantom on your resume, it means something.\u201d Since Phantom, Douglas has gone on to conduct more than 200 orchestral, musical theater, opera, and oratorio productions. Before conducting Phantom, he played piano for the choirs at Carnegie Mellon, and has since taught voice, and conducted for the
university\u2019s choir and opera programs. \u201cWhen I came back here, I noticed that people started paying attention to me more, so I felt like I had more of a voice,\u201d Douglas said.
\u201c\u200b\u200bI have so many students who are now in their 50s and more who I taught when I first started teaching here, and they remind me of things that I used to say to them or did [to help them].\u201d At Carnegie Mellon, Douglas began to see his role as three-pronged: himself as an artist, a conductor, and now a mentor and teacher to his students. Douglas has taught singers who have since performed on Broadway, including Sher\u00e9e Dunwell (Hell\u2019s Kitchen), Kaleigh Cronin (Death Becomes Her), and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), who credits Douglas for teaching him how to sing. \u201cI just want to do stuff that\u2019s meaningful. I want to help as many people
as I can,\u201d Douglas said. \u201cAnd I have some students here that \u2014 I\u2019ve set my purpose to help them get their careers established. There\u2019s so many talented kids here. I take the mentorship work very seriously, because I felt like I didn\u2019t have anyone who really pushed me when I was a kid. So now, when I see a student with talent, I try to lead them in a direction that will help them, or try to put them in touch with somebody who can help them.\u201d
Douglas is currently the Music Director of the Newton Symphony in Kansas and the Artistic Director of the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, with whom he recently performed the Pittsburgh Debut of the silent film \u201cThe Passion of Joan of Arc.\u201d After leaving Carnegie Mellon, Douglas will conduct the Bach Choir for one more season before moving on to bigger, better things.
\u201cI\u2019ve always had a thing that I didn\u2019t want to teach beyond a certain age, and I\u2019ll be 70 this year, which is hard to believe. I never wanted to be teaching when I was 70. And I\u2019ve been having some health challenges,\u201d Douglas said.
\u201cAnd so it felt like it\u2019s time to move on and let somebody else do this, and go to my next chapter. I think I\u2019ll call up the music supervisor and tell her I want to conduct Phantom again. I might ask if I could do a national tour or something
like that.\u201d
Aren Framil is a freshman studying Design at the College of Fine Arts. Born and raised in the Greater Philadelphia area, he reports on Student Government and other campus organizations. His interests lie in the intersection between design and journalistic practice.
Contact him at designs@arenframil.com.
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