Thomas Thompson began clarinet lessons at the age of eight in Belzoni, Mississippi. He holds degrees from the American Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. A member of the Grant Park Symphony, Chicago, for seven years, Thompson has also toured with the Chicago Opera Ballet Orchestra and the Boston Pops Tour Orchestra. He joined the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1966 and is currently co-principal clarinet. He has been featured as a soloist with the PSO in concertos by Carl Nielsen and Carl Maria von Weber. Thompson is an associate teaching professor at the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University.