Tom Torrisi is a classical guitarist, composer, and arranger from Clifton Park, NY. Active as both soloist and chamber musician, Tom has been heard performing throughout the United States and in the UK and has been featured on WXXI, WRUR, and BBC radio. He has received top honors in numerous competitions including the APSU Concerto Competition (2013), the Memphis University International Guitar Competition (2014) and the Southern Guitar Festival Competition in Columbia, SC (2014). Tom has studied with world-renowned teachers Nicholas Goluses, Stanley Yates, Douglas Rubio, and Lynn McGrath and has earned his Doctor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music with an Advance Certificate in Ethnomusicology.

While studying at Eastman, Tom developed an interest in the unique challenges and eclectic sounds of contemporary classical music. While making an effort to include music of living composers of his concert programs, Tom regularly collaborates with composers to create new works and expand the repertoire of the classical guitar. He has premiered pieces by Rachel DeVore Fogarty, Gerald Garcia, Evan Henry, Arthur Keegan-Bole, Timothy Lee Miller, Robert Morris, and Zack Pentecost, and has given performances at June un Buffalo, Black House Collective, the Mostly Modern Festival and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival. From 2016 – 2017 Tom served as Outreach Coordinator for OSSIA New Music, organizing performances and educational presentations of new music for the general public to enjoy. As a composer Tom often finds inspiration for his music in the natural world and several of his works pay homage to specific environmentally valuable locations in and around his home in Western New York. Thanks to his diverse and eclectic performance background, Tom’s music also presents traces of influences as wide-ranging as French impressionism, Balinese gamelan, American minimalism, and heavy metal. His pieces have been performed by Duo Purla, and Trio Ghidorah and have been featured at the 21st Century Guitar Conference, the College Music Society, and the Buffalo International Guitar Festival.

Tom teaches and performs with Nusantara Arts’ Balinese Gamelan ensembles in Buffalo, NY. This interest in Balinese music began with his extensive involvement with Eastman School of Music’s Balinese gamelan ensembles Gamelan Sanjiwani (gong kebyar) and Gamelan Lila Muni (angklung). As teaching assistant to I Nyoman Suadin, and board member of the Eastman Diversity Committee he has organized and performed concerts and presentations at public schools in order to introduce more people to gamelan.

Tom is co-founder of Rochester Classical Guitar, an organization which works to enrich the arts and connect communities in the greater Rochester area, presenting international artists while providing educational and performing opportunities to aspiring musicians. Currently, RCG hosts two monthly performance series for guitarists from the greater Rochester area, as well as concerts and masterclasses featuring world renowned international performing artists, including Marc Delpriora, Paul Galbraith, Raphaella Smits, and Tengyue Zhang. To learn more about Rochester Classical Guitar follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.