Finding his passion: Award-winning composer Thomas Edgar has a degree in piano performance from the SIU School of Music and is working toward a career in aviation as a pilot from the School of Aviation. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
September 26, 2024
SIU Carbondale grad succeeds in creating music and flying planes
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Composing allows Thomas Edgar, a certified flight instructor in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s School of Aviation, a bit more freedom and the opportunity to be more creative than when piloting a plane.
And Edgar, who graduated from SIU in May with degrees in piano performance from the School of Music and aviation flight, does both quite well.
This summer, Edgar won a Diamond Prize in the original composition category at the Saint-Saëns International Music Competition 2024 Season 2 for his work, “Inferno to Infinity.” Edgar also won the Saint-Saëns Special Award for Creative Innovation.
“I was very, very grateful that it was successful,” Edgar said. “I was glad that my music was well-received. It felt good. Sometimes you write something, and you have no idea how people are going to take to it. You might think it’s good, but others might not understand.”
‘Inferno to Infinity’
Edgar said he likes to blend romantic classical music with jazz music “and make a fusion of those.” The work is of an imaginary track that begins at the Earth’s core and expands beyond the planet.
The 21-minute piece took about four months to write and comprises seven sections. In program notes, Edgar states the beginning “depicts the fiery unknown churning that is the center of the planet” that proceeds through the ocean’s bottoms into a “push for light.” A Latin/jazz influence section “symbolizes the energy, excitement and commotion of emerging at the surface and seeing all of the nature/civilization” into a “brief respite to observe all the majesty of nature.” The adventure continues toward outer space and a break from Earth’s atmosphere. After reaching outer space, the final section “evokes the mystic beauty of viewing the depths of space, while looking back toward Earth in reflection of the journey.”
Started composing as a teenager
Edgar, who is from West Chicago, Illinois, wrote his first composition when he was about 15 years old “trying to mess around in high school.” He has between 25 and 30 compositions and said he has “always been drawn to music.”
Edgar started his own journey during his freshman and sophomore years in high school, trying to figure out how composers viewed as “unreachable giants” crafted their works.
“It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted figure out how they did it. At a certain point I was, ‘All right, I’m just going to start trying,’” he said. “I also had some really great teachers who either recognized potential or really encouraged me and showed me why it was worth it. My middle school band teacher really kind of lit the fire and got me hooked on music.”
Difficult balancing act
There are a few SIU aviation students who also are music majors, but several have aviation as a primary major and then play in ensembles in the School of Music, Edgar said.
“I knew that music was always something I felt I was supposed to do. It felt natural,” he said. “I always enjoyed it, but I was a bit hesitant to go all in and make a career of it.”
It wasn’t until Edgar visited SIU and talked with faculty from both programs that he began to believe he could succeed in both music and aviation. He is grateful to faculty in each discipline for their willingness to work with him, mentioning music faculty Yuko Kato and Christopher Walczak and aviation faculty, including Nathan J. Lincoln, who also coaches the SIU Flying Salukis. Edgar was a team member during his sophomore and junior years.
“That was the big fear I had coming down here – I didn’t know how accepting people were going to be of doing dual degrees,” Edgar said. “I was very surprised they weren’t like, ‘just figure it out.’ They were willing to work with me and understanding of the different time commitments needed in scheduling.”
While on campus, Edgar has performed in numerous ensembles and concerts. He said he has learned a lot about time management, and concedes it was a challenge to keep track of exactly what was needed when there were big projects for both programs, particularly with piano recitals.
“It was quite difficult. There is no way around it,” Edgar said. “It was pretty hard, just balancing all the back-and-forth between the airport and on campus with music classes and then transitioning to flight instructing part-time the past year and a half. That was another challenge – finding a way to balance them both.”
Plans a future with both passions
Composing is his “creative release,” Edgar said.
“It’s a way of decompressing, getting everything out that is up in my head. It feels very good to create, and it’s like a big puzzle in your mind,” he said. Edgar explained that while he constantly hears music in his head, except when he’s flying, he might see something while going about his day and hear a musical association to that experience.
Edgar said he’s focused on pursuing a job with a regional airline.
“I feel like I have put so much work into that, and it’s pretty close. I would like to see that through and see how I like it,” Edgar said. “Composing is my passion, so if one day, it overtakes aviation, so be it. But in an ideal world, I would do both in some way. I think composing is kind of a feasible way to continue with music because there is a lot of down time, and I can use that to work on my creative work.”