Briggs, Thomas
Biography
Born: June 25, 1955
Country: Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Studies: Berklee College (1973), University of Massachusetts (B.A. 1978)
Teachers:
Senior Chief Musician Thomas Briggs plays principal percussion for the United States Coast Guard Band. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a Bachelor of Arts degree in jazz studies and music education. In addition to his duties with the concert band, he also plays drums for the Dixieland Jazz Band. He formed The Masters of Swing in the summer of 1989 in response to many requests for swing music from Coast Guard Band concert audiences. MUCS Briggs is an award-winning composer. He has written and arranged many works for all types of musical ensembles from full symphonic and wind ensembles to rock group and swing band, as well as many chamber ensembles. An accomplished jazz pianist and mallet percussionist, MUCS Briggs has performed as marimba soloist with the Coast Guard Band in his own composition, the Concerto for Marimba, premiered in 1989; his Coast Guard Bicentennial Fanfare opened every concert on the Band?s Coast Guard Bicentennial tours. In a contest sponsored by the Percussive Arts Society in June 1990, MUCS Briggs won second prize for his Reminiscence for Solo Vibraphone in Five Movements. In January 1990, he won the second prize in the annual American Bandmasters Association-Ostwald Band Composition Contest for his work titled Harkness.[1]
Works for Percussion
Concerto for Marimba and Band (Briggs) - Marimba; Band
Concerto for Vibraphone and Band (Briggs) - Vibraphone; Band
Duo for Marimba and Piano - Marimba; Piano
Duo for Marimba and Vibraphone - Marimba; Vibraphone
Festival - Marimba; Saxophone
Interplay for two percussionists - Percussion Duo
Montage - Vibraphone; Saxophone
Motions - Multiple Percussion; Clarinet
Pastoral Music - Marimba
Percussion Quartet No.1 - Percussion Quartet
Reminiscence (Briggs) - Vibraphone
Sketches for Mallet Percussion - Percussion Trio
Sonata for Trombone and Timpani - Multiple Percussion; Trombone
References