Percussionist

Tom

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About Tom

Percussionist
Manchester
Public liability insurance of £10 million

Described by Josh Mancell as a “Skilled and Nuanced Maestro” - Tom Hillary is a British Conductor and Percussionist/Drummer. An alumnus of the Royal Northern College of Music, where he gained both Bachelor and Master of Music respectively - Tom studied Orchestral Percussion, Timpani and Drum Kit and specialised in Marimba and solo percussion. Alongside his Percussion studies and during his six years at the RNCM, Tom studied conducting under the guidance of David Parry. He has performed with major ensembles in the UK and abroad, including the Hallé Orchestra and the Black Dyke Band. An advocate for video game music and its role in the concert hall, He is the CEO and Conductor of The Manchester Video Game Orchestra Ltd (UK) and appears regularly as Guest Conductor with the Arabian Philharmonic Orchestra (UAE) Tom was the Principal Percussionist of Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Championship Section Brass Band, Wingates Band from 2013-2016. He enjoyed many successes, including a 'Best Percussion' prize and qualification for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. In 2016, he gained a position in the Black Dyke Band, conducted by Nicholas Childs and a place to study at the Royal Northern College of Music. During his time with Black Dyke, the band won the Yorkshire Area contest a total of three times and performed in Austria, Switzerland, USA and Japan; as well as the Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury Festival alongside Barry Gibb and Nile Rodgers. In 2019 he made his début with the Hallé Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. As Timpanist, he regularly appears as a session musician with the Northern Film Orchestra and performs regularly with the Michael Haydn Orchestra and the Chester Philharmonic Orchestra. Tom often appears in the pit on tour with shows around the UK. In December 2021, he was the drummer for Aladdin at Manchester Opera House, featuring Alexandra Burke and Ben Nickless and subsequently was the percussionist for Shrek The Musical at the Liverpool Empire. During his final year of undergraduate study, Tom founded The Manchester Video Game Orchestra (MVGO). The initial performance was met with critical acclaim from film, television and video game composers alike, some of these composers including Stewart Copeland (Drummer in the 80’s rock band The Police / Composer of the original Spyro The Dragon soundtrack) Josh Mancell (Composer of the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy soundtrack) Jeff van Dyck (Composer of the original Total War series soundtrack) and Grant Kirkhope (Composer of the Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong 64 original soundtracks). Developing into the first professional video game orchestra in the UK, Tom enjoyed a second and third successful performance with MVGO in collaboration with the renowned video game composer, Josh Mancell. Crash Meets Jak: A Video Game Extravaganza was a celebration of Josh’s most well known music, including the soundtrack from Crash Bandicoot, CTR: Crash Team Racing, and Jak & Daxter.

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Musicianship
Genres:
Classical crossover, Classical, Baroque, Contemporary classical, Early music, Fanfare, Film / TV music, Medieval music, Musical theatre, Opera, Renaissance, Christmas, Traditional church music, Military, Electronic, Ambient, Breakbeat, Deep house, Drum 'n' Bass, Dubstep, EDM, Electro-Swing, Electronica, Garage, House, IDM, Ibiza club, Industrial, Jungle, Techno, Triphop, 1920s era music, 1930s era music, 1940s era music, 1950s era music, 1960s era music, 1970s era music, 1980s era music, 1990s era music, Folk, Ceilidh, Country, Folk rock, Irish rock, Rockabilly, Traditional English folk, Traditional Irish folk, Traditional Scottish folk, Welsh folk, Jazz, Blues, Cabaret, Dixieland, Gypsy jazz, Jazz fusion, Latin jazz, Modern jazz, Postmodern jukebox jazz, Ragtime, Swing, Barbershop, Gospel, Avant garde, Easy listening, Experimental, Light music, Marching, Noise music, Originals, Pop, Acoustic, Ambient pop, Americana, Covers, Disco, Funk, Funk rock, Hip Hop, Karaoke, Motown, R&B, Soul, Top 40, Vintage, Tribute, Rock, Alternative rock, Britpop, Classic rock, Glam rock, Hard rock, Hardcore, Indie, Pop rock, Post rock, Power rock, Progressive rock, Punk rock, Rock 'n' Roll, Synth rock, World music, African music, Afrobeat, Arabic, Asian music, Bollywood, Bossa nova, Brazilian music, Calypso, Caribbean music, Cuban music, Flamenco, French music, German music, Greek music, Italian music, Hawaiian music, Jewish music, Klezmer, Latin, Reggae, Salsa, Samba, Scottish music, Ska, Spanish music, Tango
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Instruments:
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Event types:
Bar / Club / Venue event, Wedding, Virtual event, Wedding proposal, Funeral / Memorial service, Church service, Hotel / Restaurant event, Private event, Corporate event, Charity event, Concert, Recording session, Theatre / Show, Cruise, Burns night, Birthday party, Christmas party, New Year's Eve
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Tom's Song list

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Tom's Reviews

From customers:

2
2022
2 years ago

Tom is a graduate (BMus Hons/MMus) of the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester. During his six years at the RNCM Tom studied Orchestral Percussion with Simone Rebello, Elizabeth Gilliver, Paul Patrick, Graham Johns; Timpani with Ian Wright and Paul Turner; Marimba and Solo Percussion with Simone Rebello, Kai Strobel; and World Percussion/Drum Kit with Dave Hassell and Birger Sulsbruck. He also studied conducting under the guidance of renowned English conductor, David Parry. As a percussionist, Tom has played with some of the top ensembles in the country, including the Hallé Orchestra and the Black Dyke Band. He is the Founder and Conductor of The Manchester Video Game Orchestra and Principal Timpanist of the Arabian Philharmonic Orchestra, based in Dubai (UAE).

2
2022
2 years ago

Tom is a graduate (BMus Hons/MMus) of the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester. During his six years at the RNCM Tom studied Orchestral Percussion with Simone Rebello, Elizabeth Gilliver, Paul Patrick, Graham Johns; Timpani with Ian Wright and Paul Turner; Marimba and Solo Percussion with Simone Rebello, Kai Strobel; and World Percussion/Drum Kit with Dave Hassell and Birger Sulsbruck. He also studied conducting under the guidance of renowned English conductor, David Parry. As a percussionist, Tom has played with some of the top ensembles in the country, including the Hallé Orchestra and the Black Dyke Band. He is the Founder and Conductor of The Manchester Video Game Orchestra and Principal Timpanist of the Arabian Philharmonic Orchestra, based in Dubai (UAE).