Described as “breathtaking” (New York Music Daily), “insanely clever” (ClassicFM, United Kingdom), and “full of crystalline clarity” (Südkurier, Germany), Thomas Giles performs the music of our time with tireless curiosity, imagination, and unwavering conviction. To date Giles has premiered more than 200 new works—many of which are dedicated to him. He has enjoyed working closely with many leading composers e.g., Meredith Monk, David Lang, Charles Wuorinen, and the American indie-rock duo Wye Oak. Recent premieres include works by Augusta Read Thomas, Marc Mellits, and Nicola LeFanu. His growing body of solo repertoire hones a fascination with simultaneity and the multilimbic capacities of a single wind performer.
Giles is a founding member of the Telos Consort, ensemble-in-residence at the 92nd Street Y School of Music in Manhattan and a regular guest with top ensembles in New York and beyond, including the London Royal Opera co., New York City Opera orchestra, Opera Parallèle, Ensemble MISE-EN, Ensemble Échappé, Metropolis Ensemble, and Contemporaneous. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Roulette Intermedium, Constellation, SFJAZZ, and internationally at Bachfest Leipzig, Heidelberg Kulturzentrum, Münster Musikhochschule, Szczecin International Saxophone Festival, Utrecht Bartholomeus Gasthuis, and the Citè de la Musique de Strasbourg.
A devoted teacher, Giles is Artist-Teacher of Saxophone at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA. He is also on faculty at the Aaron Copland School of Music - Queens College and the 92nd Street Y School of Music. He has given clinics, lectures, and performances on campuses across the nation, including Harvard, Princeton, Manhattan School of Music, NYU Steinhardt, University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, the CUNY Graduate Center, the Hartt School, and UC Davis. He has held teaching residencies at the Arts Academy of Szczecin (Poland), Landesgymnasium für Musik in Dresden (Germany), and as orchestral saxophonist for the National Music Festival, 2013-2017. Giles is a D’Addario Woodwinds Performing Artist and a graduate of the Florida State University (Doctor of Music, 2016).
