Gates Thomas Music
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Speaking and Presentations


Gates Thomas has taught for 20 years at Berklee College of Music in Boston — the world’s first institution for the study of popular music — and continues to serve as Professor of Contemporary Writing and Production, teaching all his courses remotely.  He has given multimedia presentations on musical and historical topics at George Washington's Mount Vernon, the New School University, the University of Northern Iowa, the Davenport Public Library, the Putnam Museum and Science Center, the German-American Heritage Center, and the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of the Quad-Cities.  Recent speaking engagements include:

Sass:  The Musicianship of Sarah Vaughan
The Deanery School of Music, Davenport IA, September 29, 2025.

A Gorgeous Piece of Impudence:  The Making of Rhapsody In Blue
The Deanery School of Music, Davenport IA, June 30, 2025.

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A Wealth of Riches:  The Orchestral Music of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn
The Deanery School of Music, Davenport IA, April 28, 2025.

The Wizard:  Leopold Stokowski and the American Orchestra
The Deanery School of Music, Davenport IA, March 31, 2025.

Pops:  Louis Armstrong, Father of American Music
The Deanery School of Music, Davenport IA, February 24, 2025.

Sadder But Wiser
Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of the Quad-Cities, Davenport IA, September 1, 2024.

Clearing Tangled Underbrush:  Righting Davenport's Twisted History
Putnam Museum and Science Center, Davenport IA, August 15, 2024.

No Conscientious Scruples:  Founding of the Northwest Cremation Society
Quarterly Meeting of the State Association for the Preservation of Iowa Cemeteries, Davenport IA, July 13, 2024.

It Begins With Respect
Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of the Quad-Cities, Davenport IA, July 7, 2024.

Clearing Tangled Underbrush:  Righting Davenport's Twisted History
Davenport Public Library, Davenport IA, March 16, 2024.

The Gift of Creativity. 
Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of the Quad-Cities, Davenport IA, October 1, 2023

The German Savings Bank of Davenport
German-American Heritage Center, Davenport IA, September 17, 2023.

Hamburg-on-Mississippi, Part 2:  The Early Years of the Tri-City Symphony
German-American Heritage Center, Davenport IA, February 12, 2023.

Hamburg-on-Mississippi, Part 1:  Davenport, the Musical Mecca of the West
German-American Heritage Center, Davenport IA, January 29, 2023.

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  • Home
  • Films and Music
  • Music
    • Orchestra
    • Jazz Orchestra
    • Vocal
  • Speaking
  • Bio
  • Contact