Dr. Thomas Kurtz enjoys a multi-hyphenate career as an educator, researcher, arts administrator, and performing artist, with a commitment to champion equity-driven initiatives in the arts. As an interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Kurtz’s work as an educator, curator, and researcher thrives at the intersection of music, social change, cultural-consciousness, and broader cultural/societal movements. From teaching in higher education to facilitating community workshops, he aims to continue this work with accessibility at the forefront.

A dedicated educator, Thomas’s teaching is influenced by his experiences working in numerous public schools, higher education institutions, community music schools, and nonstandard educational institutions. This has prompted him to identify a range of teaching strategies and learning activities while adapting them for various ages, cognitive abilities, and language proficiencies in order to gain a sense of accomplishment among all students without exception. Currently, Thomas serves as Professor of Music and Music Coordinator within the Performing Arts & Social Justice Department at the University of San Francisco, and Lecturer within the Professional Development Department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He holds degrees from Montclair State University, University of Missouri - Kansas City, and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a cognate in Cultural Arts Management and Entrepreneurship.

Thomas’s research investigates how music and performance functioned as a catalyst for social justice during prominent social movements, with a particular focus among the Queer community in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is curating a series of workshops based on archival research at the GLBT Historical Society, as well as conducting oral history interviews for an upcoming book project. Collaborating with the GLBTHS and research conducted within their archival domain supports his efforts in detailing how music, performance, and the cultural arts generates community response, engagement, and social action.

As a musician and saxophonist, Thomas garnered prizes in various national and international competitions, and performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall. He has contributed to notable national and international conferences including: Music Teachers National Association, Association for Arts Administration Educators, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, North American Saxophone Alliance, and Sabre Festival in Zürich, Switzerland. Within Thomas’s work as a guest clinician, he has been invited to teach and provide clinics at various institutions, such as Brandeis University, Montclair State University, California School of the Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Texas A&M International University, and Wagner College, among others.

Displaying Thomas’s arts leadership experience are his various roles in partnership with the National AIDS Memorial, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Living Jazz, the Austin Chamber Music Center (ACMC), and the City of Austin’s (COA) Cultural Arts division. Highlights include curating and implementing the entertainment for Light in the Grove, marketing & communications management for the SFCO, co-curating Living Jazz’s inaugural Professional Development Workshop, developing the 2021 World Cities Culture Report and Cultural Asset Mapping Project for the COA, and coordinating ACMC’s nationwide Coltman Chamber Music Competition.

Curriculum vitae available upon request.