Thomas Beckner earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating in 1986. At Berklee he studied jazz piano, composition, synthesis and recording.
Tom Beckner has worked as a musical director and accompanist for many musical theatre and dance productions. He has performed with many musical theatre schools and regional theatres including Broadhollow Players, Gateway Playhouse and Adelphi University.
For eight years Tom worked with comedian Bob Nelson. Bob is known for his cast of zany characters to which Tom provided musical accompaniment. They have performed in numerous comedy clubs and theatres from the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City to the Roxy in Los Angeles. Television appearances have included "Caroline's Comedy Hour" on A&E. Tom wrote music for a children�s t.v. show called "The Laugh A Lot Club" starring Bob Nelson and Peter Pitofsky.
While working with Bob, Tom has shared the stage with other famous comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield, Rosie O'Donnell, Anthony Clarke, Richard Belzer, Emo Phillips, Adam Ferrara, and John Mulrooney. He also provided music for a sketch comedy troupe with Gary Valentine, Joey Kola, Rock Rueben, Jim Myers and Kevin James who now has his own T.V. show, "The King of Queens."
Tom has played with numerous bands in the New York area in various genres from jazz to rock. With the band Universal Dice he has recorded keyboard tracks on three albums as well as live performances. He has played concerts and theatre productions with children's music performing artist Jeff Sorg. Currently he is performing with The Paul Effman Jazz Ensemble, The classic oldies group The Dukes, and the classic rock band, Mid-Life Crisis. Most recently Tom has been playing with contemporary Christian artist Anthony Muhs.
Tom composes and records in his personal project studio. He has contributed numerous tracks to several music library publishers. Many of Tom's compositions have been used in TV, video game and corporate productions. Tom has been teaching music for over fifteen years, including piano, guitar and bass, in classical, jazz and popular styles.
