Mark Thomas grew up singing locally in choirs at St. Edward Catholic Church and Texas High School. He has studied under local voice teachers Bonnie Montgomery and Dr. Jim Works.
Thomas’ amazing first tenor singing voice has taken him far in life—including to New York City to sing at Carnegie Hall in May. Next month, it will take him even farther as he sings before Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome on Christmas Eve—an honor for any Catholic.
“I have always dreamed of singing for the pope,” said Thomas, a 2007 graduate of THS. “I have heard the pope’s favorite is Mozart. He plays a couple of concertos a day. He is a music lover.”
Thomas will perform as a member of the University of St. Thomas Liturgical Choir. They will perform classical tunes and Christmas music in Latin, Italian, German and English. Several of the pieces will be commissioned.
Theology professor Michael Joncas, who wrote “On Eagle’s Wings,” will make the trip with the choir.
“He has written a piece called ‘Rorate Caeli,’” said Thomas. “He wrote it especially for our performance at the Vatican. It’s my favorite.”
The choir will sing at the Mass on the fourth Sunday of Advent on Dec. 23. Thomas has tried out for a solo part in the song “Nella Pienezza del Tempo,” which in English means “In the Fullness of Time.” As of this week, he does not know if he got the part.
The performance in Italy was set up by Robert P. Strusinski, the school’s director of chapel music and the liturgical choir. The trip will last 10 days and the group of 60 singers will visit Rome, Milan, Florence, Tuscany and Assisi.
“We will get to see the statue of David by Michelangelo while we are there,” he said.
Thomas decided to attend the University of St. Thomas during his senior year of high school.
He traveled to St. Paul, Minn., each summer for three years to participate in a music ministry workshop at St. Katherine, an all-girls’ private college. While there, he found out about St. Thomas.
“It was a nice campus and I liked the feel. I applied there and they offered me some pretty nice scholarships,” said Thomas, who originally had two colleges in mind—St. Thomas and the University of North Texas.
He decided that if he was going to go into vocal performance, his college needed a strong moral foundation.
“I thought I would get that at a private Catholic college,” he said.
He is studying vocal performance with emphasis on classical music and has dreams of singing opera professionally.
After college, Thomas plans on continuing his music education.
“Hopefully, I will go to a music conservatory or a major university for grad school,” Thomas said. “I think the East Coast has a lot of really nice conservatories, but I am going to look into Europe as well. Europe has good programs for opera.”
The St. Thomas liturgical choir raised $1,000 per person to go on the trip, and friends and family helped Thomas raise the rest.
During the summer break, St. Edward Catholic Church, along with Mary Scott, Howard Scott, Stacy James Mayo and Dr. Jim Works, sponsored a small concert at the home of Dr. Jerry and Linda Robertson. Thomas raised the balance of the $2,500 trip.
“The church was extremely generous,” Thomas said. “I raised enough to pay for the trip and cover expenses.”
After performing for the pope, he’ll look toward his singing future.
“I would love to sing at the Met (Metropolitian Opera House in New York City),” the 19-year-old said.
Thomas is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music from St. Thomas. He is the son of Chris and David Thomas. He has two siblings: Andrew, 22, and Catherine, 10.
Thomas’ amazing first tenor singing voice has taken him far in life—including to New York City to sing at Carnegie Hall in May. Next month, it will take him even farther as he sings before Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome on Christmas Eve—an honor for any Catholic.
“I have always dreamed of singing for the pope,” said Thomas, a 2007 graduate of THS. “I have heard the pope’s favorite is Mozart. He plays a couple of concertos a day. He is a music lover.”
Thomas will perform as a member of the University of St. Thomas Liturgical Choir. They will perform classical tunes and Christmas music in Latin, Italian, German and English. Several of the pieces will be commissioned.
Theology professor Michael Joncas, who wrote “On Eagle’s Wings,” will make the trip with the choir.
“He has written a piece called ‘Rorate Caeli,’” said Thomas. “He wrote it especially for our performance at the Vatican. It’s my favorite.”
The choir will sing at the Mass on the fourth Sunday of Advent on Dec. 23. Thomas has tried out for a solo part in the song “Nella Pienezza del Tempo,” which in English means “In the Fullness of Time.” As of this week, he does not know if he got the part.
The performance in Italy was set up by Robert P. Strusinski, the school’s director of chapel music and the liturgical choir. The trip will last 10 days and the group of 60 singers will visit Rome, Milan, Florence, Tuscany and Assisi.
“We will get to see the statue of David by Michelangelo while we are there,” he said.
Thomas decided to attend the University of St. Thomas during his senior year of high school.
He traveled to St. Paul, Minn., each summer for three years to participate in a music ministry workshop at St. Katherine, an all-girls’ private college. While there, he found out about St. Thomas.
“It was a nice campus and I liked the feel. I applied there and they offered me some pretty nice scholarships,” said Thomas, who originally had two colleges in mind—St. Thomas and the University of North Texas.
He decided that if he was going to go into vocal performance, his college needed a strong moral foundation.
“I thought I would get that at a private Catholic college,” he said.
He is studying vocal performance with emphasis on classical music and has dreams of singing opera professionally.
After college, Thomas plans on continuing his music education.
“Hopefully, I will go to a music conservatory or a major university for grad school,” Thomas said. “I think the East Coast has a lot of really nice conservatories, but I am going to look into Europe as well. Europe has good programs for opera.”
The St. Thomas liturgical choir raised $1,000 per person to go on the trip, and friends and family helped Thomas raise the rest.
During the summer break, St. Edward Catholic Church, along with Mary Scott, Howard Scott, Stacy James Mayo and Dr. Jim Works, sponsored a small concert at the home of Dr. Jerry and Linda Robertson. Thomas raised the balance of the $2,500 trip.
“The church was extremely generous,” Thomas said. “I raised enough to pay for the trip and cover expenses.”
After performing for the pope, he’ll look toward his singing future.
“I would love to sing at the Met (Metropolitian Opera House in New York City),” the 19-year-old said.
Thomas is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music from St. Thomas. He is the son of Chris and David Thomas. He has two siblings: Andrew, 22, and Catherine, 10.