VIOLIST + ARRANGER + COMPOSER

Thomas Beckman, serves as violin and viola instructor at World of Music and Arts and as the violist for Vancouver Duo, The Arbutus Duo and rock trio, Sons of Granville. His recent #Violalicks series focused on 52 film and television themes with a weekly release in 2024, and garnered tens of thousands of streams, including an interview on CBC Radio. With a grant from Creative BC, Thomas is now preparing for a new astronomy themed album called Cosmic Viola, set for a release concert in the summer at the HR MacMillan Space Centre.

Past commissions have varied from independent film scores, to multi-media shows, to concert classical works, and for such groups as the Borealis String Quartet, Arbutus Duo, the Prince George Symphony, Symphony 21, the Postmodern Camerata, the Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra and Orchestra North Academy, consisting from: First Breath (2022), Entropy (2021), Metatation (2020) and other slideshow compositions for the Artists for Conservation organization, Exoplanetarium (Oct, 2021) for Symphony 21, Caulfield in the Cape suite for the Prince George Symphony (May 8th, 2021), Submerged for the Orchestra North Festival (July 2021), Oceanus for the Arbutus Duo (May, 2020), the St Roch Suite for the Prince George Symphony (March 2019), Flux for the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra (April 2019), Tango, the Engine Room and Kwela! for the Borealis String Quartet (June 2017, 2018 and 2019), and Life in the Universe for the H.R MacMillan Space Centre and released on Redshift Records (October, 2018).

For film, Thomas continues to collaborate with Independent Film Maker Jason Mills, having released soundtracks for Big Foot Country 2 (2024), Belladonna (2024), Elvis The Pig (2022), The Key To Christmas (2020), Beyond The Line (2019), Bigfoot Country (2018) and many others.

VIOLALICKS

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ORIGINAL COMPOSITION

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M E T A T A T I O N

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A V E - M A R I A

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D O N ‘T - K N O W - W H Y

B I L L I E - J E A N

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COMPOSER HIGHLIGHTS

Submerged (2021)
Written in collaboration with the Vancouver Maritime Museum and performed by the Orchestra North Academy ensemble. A six minute string quartet work using extended techniques and inspired by the Ben Franklin submersible.

Caulfield in the Cape Suite (2021) Commissioned and performed by the Prince George Symphony orchestra for their 2020/2021 season. Based on South African folk music and juxtaposed with J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye.

Oceanus for viola and piano (2021)
Written for my own viola and piano duo, the Arbutus Duo. Premiered at the Instrumental Measures performance series.

Flux (2019)
Commissioned by the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. A six minute symphonic work for the VMO opening Spring Concert of 2019. World premiere took place on April 5th at Shaughnessy Heights United Church under maestro Ken Hsieh.

St Roch Suite (2019)
Commissioned by the Regional District of Fraser and the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with the Vancouver Maritime Musuem. The performance included a slideshow of archival photographs, and spoken word by award-winning poet, Jude Neale. The work was premiered by the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and Nova Voce choir under maestro Michael Hall on March 9th, 2019.

Life in the Universe (2018)
Commissioned by the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre for their 50th anniversary. Performed by the Borealis String Quartet in the Star Theatre for two sold out shows. Later, recorded and released on Redshift Records.

Parade of War (2018)
Parade of War was selected as one of six pieces for the Jean Coulthard Readings by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and led by maestro, William Rowson and composer-in-residence, Jocelyn Morlock.

Mill’s Studios Soundtracks (2016 - present) Composed and produced over a dozen full feature soundtracks for independent filmmaker, Jason Mills. Films received widespread distribution via Vision Films, based in L.A. In-depth experience using Avid Sibelius for scoring, and Logic Pro for mixing and music programming. Some full feature soundtracks include: Big Foot Country (2018), Beyond the Line (2019), The Key to Christmas (2020), Elvis the Pig (2021) and others.

Promising Practices Soundtracks (2015 - present)
Film composer for the ongoing Promising Practices docuseries by the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, and Circle of Eagles organization. Focus on health issues impacting First Nations communities across Canada, requiring a sensitive musical treatment.

Festival Composer for the Artists for Conservation Organization (2015 - present) Commissioned to compose and perform original music for the AFC’s annual festival at venues such as Grouse Mountain, the Blue Shore Financial Theatre at Capilano University, and the Vancouver Convention Centre.