Biography

Thomas Cunningham (usually known as Tom) was born in Edinburgh, studied composition (under Melanie Daiken) and orchestral conducting (under Guy Woolfenden) at Morley College, London, then worked for many years in Belgium. His compositions, published by Hinshaw Music in the USA and Goodmusic / Roberton in the UK, have been performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus, the London Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, the Hallé Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Cappella Nova, the National Boys Choir of Scotland, the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, the Flemish Radio Choir and many orchestras and choirs throughout the world. From 1984 till 2002 he was Musical Director of the Brussels Choral Society and a guest conductor of the Flemish Radio Choir. Since returning to Edinburgh in 2003, he has completed five commissions for the National Youth Choir of Scotland and twelve collaborations with the world-famous writer Alexander McCall Smith, one of which, “A Tapestry of Many Threads”, won a Herald Angel Award at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival. Their opera “The Okavango Macbeth” was premièred in Botswana in October 2009 and subsequently performed in Edinburgh, Cambridge and Cape Town – the CD from Delphian Records was one of the Arts Desk’s Top 12 Classical CDs of 2012. Another CD “Scotland at Night” including his compositions performed by Laudibus is also available on Delphian Records. Tom's final composition, "Cantata for Peace", was premiered shortly before he died in 2023.