RICHARD THOMAS is Chair of the Department of Music at Presbyterian College, Director of the PC Chamber Orchestra, and adjunct cello instructor at Lander University. Thomas is a former member of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of Colombia and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of the Dominican Republic. He is also a former faculty member of UNC-Wilmington, the Universidad del Cauca and Universidad del Valle in Colombia, the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica of the Dominican Republic, the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, and he served as String Department Head at Camp Encore-Coda in Sweden, Maine from 1999-2008. Thomas conducted the 2018 Region I, 11-12 Orchestra and the 2020 Region 3, 11-12 Orchestra. He was named Clinton Chronicle Teacher of the Year 2024. He studied at DePauw University, the University of North Texas, and received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of South Carolina. Thomas plays a 2015 Michael Köberling cello.