Patty Thom

Patty Thom joined the Conservatory in 2003 and is a professor of voice. She served as chair of voice until 2022.

Prior to joining the Conservatory, Thom was director of music at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Massachusetts, where she was also director of the New England Conservatory-Walnut Hill joint program. She is a former teaching staff member of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute's Young Artists Vocal Program and BU's College of Fine Arts. Thom has given recitals, performances, and master classes throughout the United States, Canada, Switzerland, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Asia. She also served as artistic ambassador for the U.S. Information Agency, touring, performing, and teaching in Southeast Asia. In her work as a collaborative pianist, she premiered new works for the composers' consortia NuClassix, Extension Works, and Underground Composers. Thom has been trained in Linklater work (freeing the natural voice) and yoga (Kripalu), as well as Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais. 

Thom earned a B.M. from the University of North Dakota and an M.M. from Boston University. She also trained at L'Ecole Hindemith in Vevey, Switzerland, and studied Korean language at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Thom studied voice with Joan Heller, Phyllis Curtin, and Richard Cassilly, and she studied acting and voice training with Kristin Linklater, Brent Blair, and Christopher von Baeyer. She also studied piano with Carmen Leerstang, Allen Rogers, and Anthony di Bonaventura and was a student in master classes with Arleen Auger, Carlo Bergonzi, Helen Boatwright, Hugues Cuénod, Irwin Gage (Cleveland Art Song Festival), Margo Garrett, Benjamin Luxon, and David Willison. She is now a sought-after master clinician and gives master classes for young singers in colleges, high schools, and at festivals across the United States.

In addition to her work with the collegiate program, Thom was a codirector and instructor for the Boston Conservatory Vocal/Choral Intensive, the Conservatory's summer program for high school-aged singers. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.