Dr. Tommy Dobbs is the Assistant Professor of Percussion at Oklahoma City University and a member of the Percussive Arts Society’s University Pedagogy Committee. Prior to his appointment at OCU, he spent seven years as the Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith. He received his Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Percussion Performance from the Florida State University, and his Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from the University of North Florida.
 

An active performer and educator, Tommy has performed recitals and given master classes at universities and secondary schools throughout the United States and abroad. Tommy is currently the principal percussionist for the Fort Smith Symphony, a member of the Wind and Wood Duo, a clarinet and percussion duo.

Recent performance and presentation highlights include, an accessory percussion clinic at The Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention (PASIC); a showcase concert at the World Saxophone Congress in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Wind and Wood Duo performance at The 2024 International Clarinet Associations ClarinetFest Conference in Dublin, Ireland; The Great American Marimba Concerto performance with The Fort Smith Symphony; presentations at The Texas Music Educator’s Conference (TMEA) and The Oklahoma Music Educators Conference (OkMEA); and the release of a new album with The Wind and Wood Duo, Strange Dreams: Works for Clarinet and Percussion Volume Two (summer 2024).
 

He has performed and presented at conferences such as The Midwest Clinic, Texas Music Educators Association Conference, The College Music Society (International, National, and Regional), the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Conferences (International and National), the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Various Day of Percussion Conferences, The World Saxophone Congress in Croatia and Spain, the International Navy Saxophone Symposiums, College Band Directors National Association Regional Conferences, and American Bandmasters Association Regional and National Conferences.

Previous appointments include, serving as acting principal percussionist for the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra (Florida) and principal timpanist for Sinfonia Gulf Coast (Florida) in 2013/2014 as well as section percussion/assistant timpani for the Georgia Coastal Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Ballet, and Sinfonia Gulf Coast. He was also the recipient of the prestigious EMF Percussion Internship with The Eastern Music Festival, where he performed as Section Percussion in the 2014 EMF Festival Orchestra under Gerard Schwarz.

 

In 2014, he performed in Carnegie Hall as a member of What Is Noise, a cutting-edge new music ensemble dedicated to the music of living American composers. Previously, in 2008, he performed in Carnegie Hall with the University of North Florida's Wind Ensemble. Tommy was a member of the Florida State University Percussion Ensemble in 2011, when the group won the Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition, and he can be heard on the ensemble's recording, Volume Two: Not Far From Here.
 

Other recording credits include The Music of Louis Ballard and The Music of Florence Price with the Fort Smith Symphony on NAXOS, Omar Carmenates’ critically acclaimed The Gaia Theory on New Zealand's Rattle Records, Adam Silverman's Percussion Music on Calabaza Records and the recently released, The John Psathas Project Vol. 1 on Rattle Records.
 

He is an endorser of Pearl/Adams Corporation, SABIAN Cymbals, Innovative Percussion Inc., Grover Pro Percussion, and Beetle Percussion.