Hello, I am Thomas Patteson, a teacher, writer, curator, and musician who lives in Philadelphia, USA. All my work and play revolves around the belief that humans need music in order to remember our true nature, which is both embodied and infinite.

As a teacher, I help students use critical thinking and imagination to reshape the boundaries of musical possibility. From 2013 to 2023, I taught in the Musical Studies department at the Curtis Institute of Music, where I developed a new music history curriculum and launched electives that were the first of their kind at the school. I am now a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, where I'll be teaching a first-year seminar called "Music and the Exploration of Consciousness" in fall 2025 .

As a writer, I am drawn to stories that challenge and expand our ideas about music. The focus of my current work is a translation of Ernst Ferand's groundbreaking 1938 book Die Improvisation in der Musik, the first and only attempt to write a history of improvisatory practices in European music. Other writings include the book Instruments for New Music, a study of experimental sound technologies in Germany during the Weimar Republic, the website Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments (which  will be published as a book in 2026), and the blogs Possible Music (2023-) and Acousmata (2009-2013). 

As a curator, I create spaces for people to have deep, challenging, and life-changing musical experiences. Over the years, I've worked with Philadelphia presenting organizations such as <fidget> and Bowerbird, where I helped launch the Arcana New Music Ensemble in 2016. In 2023, I co-founded People's Music Supply, an artist-led platform for improvised music and community-building. 

As a musician, I play alto saxophone, keyboard, and electronics in a variety of different groups, including Argyle Torah and the 52nd Street Planetary Ensemble. Some major influences on my playing include Muhal Richard Abrams, Kadri Gopalnath, Wendy Carlos, medieval European polyphony, and Indian classical music. 

Photo by David Dzubinski

Photo by Jessica Brown