More About Tom Masinter

THE EARLY YEARS and EDUCATION

Mr. Masinter’s family is full of musicians, artists and writers. Mr. Masinter’s father Louis was a founding member and string bassist of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. Louis performed for four years with jazz great Louis Prima and appeared with him in six movies in Hollywood. Louis was a performer at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for many years and taught string orchestra in New Orleans public schools. Mr. Masinter’s mother Dorothy was President of the Greater New Orleans Chapter of Sweet Adelines and was a church choir alto. Mr. Masinter’s brother Stanley is the Pipe Major for the Baton Rouge Caledonian Pipes and Drums. His sister Susan Riley and his cousin Fred Masinter are professional musicans and music instructors. His cousin Steve Hochman is a free lance music writer for the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone Magazine and other publications.

Mr. Masinter began performing professionally in New Orleans at age 15. While still in high school his rock ‘n roll band, The Leather Pages began touring the Gulf Coast and recorded a record which received airplay across the southern United States. The recordings are still available in several CD compilations and “Leather Pages-Accept Me For Who I Am” has become a psychedelic cult favorite on YouTube.

Mr. Masinter holds a B.A. in Music Composition and Geology and a M.A. in Musicology with a minor in Speech & Drama from Trinity University in San Antonio. Among his piano teachers were TMTA Texas Teacher of the Year Andrew Mihalso and Julliard grad concert pianist Orval Klopp at Loyola University in New Orleans. Klopp was the teacher of composer William Gillock and Van Clibrun Silver Medalist Santiago Rodriguez. The great stage director, Paul Baker was on Mr. Masinter’s thesis committee. Mr. Masinter’s thesis Don Pedro Rabassa (1683-1760) And His Compositions In The Puebla Cathedral Music Archives, Puebla, Mexico put into print several Rabassa compositions for the first time. He has also received instruction in voice, organ, harpsichord, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, recorder and percussion.

TEACHER

Mr. Masinter is one of the few San Antonio Nationally Certified Teachers of Music (NCTM) awarded by the Music Teachers National Assn. He was presented in his home music studio in a nationally-broadcast television (PBS) episode of “Heritage”. His music students often perform in public. Look for them playing in churches on Sunday morning or in public recitals at local universities. His students regularly receive excellent or superior ratings in Achievement Auditions. Many 100’s of his students have won medals for high scores on the TMTA Music Theory Tests . Some students have gone on to receive music degrees and become professional musicians and teachers. Mr. Masinter has also taught at Trinity University.

His composition student Casey Adkisson won First Place in Texas in the piano solo category in the TMTA Original Composition Contest. His former student Jon Cunningham, performing as Corn Mo can be seen on a YouTube clip performing his original song I’m Not You’re Gary Bussey Boy on the Jimmy Kimmel ABC-TV Show.

Mr. Masinter is in demand as a judge for musical events and is one of the 12 judges for the National Guild of Piano Teachers International Piano Composition Contest. His educational one man show Mozart which he wrote and in which he acted has been presented at TMTA conventions and for 100’s of San Antonio school children.

MUSIC DIRECTOR

Mr. Masinter has been music director in several churches in San Antonio and New Orleans including Western Hills Christian Church, Parkway Presbyterian Church, Brooks Air Force Base Chapel, and the Church of Religious Science.

Mr. Masinter has been music director for the Plaza Dinner Theater Heymakers, 1520 A.D. Theater Restaurants, the San Pedro Playhouse SALT Shakers, the Josephine Theatre, Church Theatre, Cameo Theatre, Allegro Stage Co. and the Woodlawn Theatre. He has won several ATAC awards for his music direction of musicals. Some of the shows for which he has been music director are Fiddler On The Roof, Oliver, The Sound Of Music, 42nd Street, Nunsense, Forever Plaid, Gone To Texas, Nuncrackers, The Andrews Brothers, Fire On The Bayou, Let’s Misbehave and Fascinating Rhythm. Most recently he was Music Supervisor for Cabaret at Northwest Vista College. He has also been music director for numerous special events at The Empire Theatre, The Argyle, Club Giraud, San Antonio Country Club, McNay Art Museum and San Antonio Public Library just to name a few.

Mr. Masinter is President and Managing Musical Director of the Allegro Stage Co. which produces new musicals and vintage Broadway shows. The Allegro Stage Co. premier production of his original musical Fire On The Bayou won two ATAC Globe Awards for Excellence in 2010. Let’s Misbehave!, Allegro’s second production, also received two Globe Awards.

Mr. Masinter accompanied Kitty Carlisle Hart at the McNay Art Museum.

COMPOSER and ARRANGER

Mr. Masinter began composing music while in his early teens. He has composed music in every genre from classical ensembles to pop songs to religious anthems. Mr. Masinter wrote music for the Cap’n Gus TV Show, the theme song for To See Ourselves, a television special on aging (PBS) and the “People Helping People” United Way jingle. His piano solos Concert Waltz, Sonata for Piano, Georgian Rhapsody, The Big Bend Suite, Ojo de Agua, Pacific Moonrise and Ten Speed were premiered by Dallas concert pianist Baya Kakouberi. 35 of his piano pieces and arrangements have been performed at TMTA State Conventions. His many piano compositions and arrangements are published by Warner Bros., Alfred, Noteworthy , RBC, and Star Dreams publishing companies.

He has composed the music for ten original musicals, six of whcih have been produced, and the incidental music for seven plays. His produced musicals include - Dane, Freek Tragedy, The Marigold Tree, Princess Alice, Fire On The Bayou and Gone To Texas. His award-winning musical Fire On The Bayou was staged in 2010 at The Woodlawn Theatre. He has recently composed music for Classic Theatre of San Antonio productions of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Goldsmith’s She Stoops To Conquer.

His musical Gone To Texas won the 2002 ATAC Globe Award for Best Original Musical Score. It has been on stage at The Jospehine Theatre, San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, Texas Music Teachers Association State Convention, The Church Theatre and in Austin at the Texas Spirit Theatre of The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. In 2006 it was presented at The York Theatre in New York with a Broadway cast. It’s most recent presentation was inside The Alamo Shrine on February 23, 2010. This was the only time that a theatrical production has been allowed inside The Alamo. Wiiliam R. Chemerka and Allen J. Wiener in the book Music of the Alamo called Gone To Texas “The grandest Alamo Music project of 2003”.

He is co-writer and musical arranger of the Cole Porter musical revue, Let’s Misbehave! and the Gershwin musical revue Fascinating Rhythm! which were staged at The Cameo Theatre in San Antonio in 2010 and 2011.

RECORDINGS

Accept Me For What I Am and The News Today is out, recorded when Mr. Masinter was in high school feature him performing on organ with the rock group The Leather Pages. These recordings are available on two CD’s including New Orleans Garage Band Greats of the 60’s, Vol. 2.

His song If You Go Away This Time with lyrics by Mark Leonard was recorded by Ken Slavin on his CD The Song Is You. His song Indigo Eyes also with lyrics by Mark Leonard was recorded by Susan Riley on her CD Daddy-O.

A CD recording of the musical Fire On The Bayou is available on the Star Dreams label.

In 2011 the CD recording Sabor A Mi was released by Li-Sem Recording Co. It features Mr. Masinter’s lush string orchestra arrangements of Hispanic songs for physical and mental healing and the violin performances of Daniel Kobialka. Available from WonderOfSound.com, amazon.com, itunes and other venders.

PIANO RESTORATION AND TUNING

Published articles Mr. Masinter has written and feature stories on his antique piano conservation work, music history research, teaching methods and composing have appeared in San Antonio Homes and Gardens, American Music Teacher, Piano Guild Notes, Texas Highways, Reed Organ Society Bulletin, Texas Music Teacher, Ritornello, Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, San Antonio Express-News, Southern Living Magazine and Trinity Magazine.

At any time you may find Mr. Masinter working on perhaps an 1860’s vintage Steinway grand or on a c.1804 Broadwood square fortepiano. Important pianos he has restored are in the Steves Homestead Museum in the King William Historic District and in the Breckenridge House at the University of the Incarnate Word. Mr. Masinter has presented lecture-recitals on piano history while demonstrating vintage historical instruments he has restored. He has visited major musical instrument collections in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. His piano tuning customers include the San Antonio Opera Co.

PROFESSIONAL AND CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS

Mr. Masinter is a member of the San Antonio Music Teachers Association and served on its Executive Board for 25 years in nearly every capacity including that of President. He has held several important posts for the Texas Music Teachers Assn. including Chairman of the Commissioned Composer program.

He is a member of the following music/theater organizations: The Dramatists Guild, Authors League of America, and the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP). Mr. Masinter has served on the boards of the San Antonio Opera Co. and Josephine Theatricals. He is currently the President of the Alamo Theatre Arts Council (www.atac-sa.org) and President of the Allegro Stage Co. (www.allegrostage.com). He is a member of the San Antonio Theatre Coalition, Theatre Communications Group, Texas Non-Profit Theatres Assoc. and Texas Public Radio.

AWARDS AND HONORS

Meritorious Service Award from the Air Force Chief of Chaplains.

2002 ATAC Globe Award for Best Original Musical Score for Gone To Texas.

2006 ATAC Globe Award for Best Music Direction of a Musical for Forever Plaid

2007 ATAC Globe Award for Best Music Direction of a Musical for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown

2008 ATAC Globe Award for Best Music Direction of a Musical for Nuncrackers

2009 TMTA Texas Composer of the Year finalist.

2009 Arts and Letters Award from the Friends of the San Antonio Public Library for contributions to the arts in San Antonio. Other recipients of the Arts and Letters Award include actor Tommy Lee Jones, philosopher Jacques Barzun, spiritual leader Max Lucado, poet Naomi Shihab Nye, architect O Neil Ford and orchestra conductor Christopher Wilkins.

2010 ATAC Globe Award for Best Original Musical Arrangements for the musical revue Let’s Misbehave!

Listed in the 58th Edition of Who’s Who in Music.