Thomas Warfield

Thomas Warfield is an international performing artist who’s lived in 6 countries. As a singer, dancer, actor, model, composer, pianist, choreographer, director, producer, educator, activist and poet, Thomas has performed on stage, television and film. in more than 100 cities worldwide; His childhood dance training in Rochester was with Olive McCue at the Mercury Ballet, piano/voice at Eastman School of Music, performing with Opera Theatre of Rochester and local theatre groups. He also trained in NYC at the School of American Ballet. Thomas holds a BFA in Dance and Journalism from SUNY Purchase, and an MFA in Dance Ethnology from the University of Utah. His professional dance career included Joffrey Ballet, Jane Dudley London/NY, companies in Hong Kong, Stockholm, Paris, San Francisco, Macau and others. Numerous and diverse professional performances include: New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, ’The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, a circus in Japan, 3 U.S. prisons, HBO Shorts, Marie Claire Magazine (Hong Kong), the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Gateways Orchestra, a Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth in London, and an east-coast tour of his original project AstroDance - combining dance and astrophysics funded by the National Science Foundation. He’s founder/artistic director of 33yr old PeaceArt International, Inc., a local/global project using arts to foster world peace. For 25yrs Thomas Warfield has been Director of Dance at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is former dance critic for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle newspaper. Thomas was recently appointed by NYS Governor Kathy Hochul to the NYS Hate and Bias Prevention Council, and appointed by Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren as co-chair of the City of Rochester’s Arts & Creative Community Committee (AC3). He serves on the boards of Garth Fagan Dance, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Area Community Foundation Advisory. He has served on The YWCA Diversity Advisory Board, Eastman School of Music Action Commission for Racial Justice, former president of ARTWalk, former president of Association of Teaching Artists, founding board member of MuCCC Theatre, and president emeritus of the Wm. Warfield Scholarship Fund. Other boards include: World Dance Alliance (Hong Kong), Young Audiences, Greentopia, Rochester City Ballet, Gateways Music Festival, Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Area Community Foundation, Rochester Fringe Festival, NY Dance Festival, Education for Peace, China Millennium Council. He is the recipient of numerous awards including: U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Special Recognition Award, NYS Commendation Award, United Nations Peace Award, American Ethical Union Award, Empire State Pride Agenda LGBTQ Champion Award, National Dance Education Association Award, U of R Medical Center Red Ribbon for HIV Research Award, City of Rochester Unsung Heroes Award, National Task Force on AIDS Prevention Award, Rochester Pride Parade Grand Marshall, an Off-Off Broadway Award for Choreography. His Global Poem In Praise of Peace garnered global recognition in letters from composer Leonard Bernstein, Mother Teresa, The Dalai Lama and hundreds of others. Thomas Warfield’s first solo album of original compositions, Celebrate the Moment, has sold throughout the world and can be found on itunes.com and Spotify.