Hello, I am Thomas Patteson, a teacher, writer, curator, and musician who lives in Philadelphia. All my work and play revolves around the belief that making music plugs us in to the most basic dimensions of being human, and that all people possess the ability to have deep and mind-changing musical experiences. 

As a teacher, I help students see how music history and theory connect to music reality. From 2013 to 2023, I taught in the Musical Studies department at the Curtis Institute of Music, where I developed a new curriculum for first-year students. In the fall of 2025, I'll be teaching a course a course called "Music and the Exploration of Consciousness" at the University of Pennsylvania.

As a writer, I explore creative traditions that expand our ideas of what music is and what its powers are. My writings include the book Instruments for New Music and the website Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments, as well as in my ongoing work on the history of improvisation in European music. Online writing projects include the blogs Possible Music (2023-) and Acousmata (2009-2013). 

As a curator, I create spaces for the unique encounters that only music makes possible. In 2023, I co-founded People's Music Supply, an artist-led platform for improvised music and community-building. Over the years, I've worked with Philadelphia-based presenting organizations  such as <fidget> and Bowerbird, where I helped launch the Arcana New Music Ensemble in 2016.