Tom Herman

Biography

Tom Herman's music has been performed in the United States, Canada  and Europe.  His compositions include art songs, piano and chamber music, orchestral and choral pieces, as well as theater works.  His theatrical piece Objets trouvés was granted a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award. His musical comedy Jack's Back!, for which Mr. Herman wrote both music and lyrics, was produced at the Gloria Maddox Theater in New York City.

His CD Tom Herman/Music for Voice, featuring soprano Rebecca Luker, was for many years both an Editor's Pick and a Best Seller on CDBaby.com.  The Journal of Singing wrote of the album: "These songs leave a deep, abiding impression on the listener. . . As heard here, they sound like the works of a master songwriter."

Mr. Herman has taught at Sarah Lawrence College and Fordham University.

Latest Album

Tom Herman/Songs from Life

Tom Herman/Songs From Life is Mr. Herman's latest CD.  It contains twenty new art songs plus a setting of the Gloria from the Latin Mass.  The songs are settings of poems by diverse poets, from Sara Teasdale to W.S. Merwin, from e.e. cummings to Wendell Berry.

The album features the superb GRAMMY-nominated soprano Maggie Finnegan, the acclaimed Canadian pianist Joel Harder and the distinguished cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach.

The CD release date is February 1, 2026.

All program notes and song lyrics are available here:

​Full booklet.pdf

Complete track list:

 

0:00/???
  1. 1
    01 Velvet Shoes 3:30
    0:00/3:30
  2. 2
    02 Remembering Summer 2:21
    0:00/2:21
  3. 3
    03 in Just-Spring 2:18
    0:00/2:18
  4. 4
    04 why do the fingers 2:20
    0:00/2:20
  5. 5
    05 Parting Gift 2:51
    0:00/2:51
  6. 6
    06 They Sit Together On the Porch 3:53
    0:00/3:53
  7. 7
    07 Mamie 3:35
    0:00/3:35
  8. 8
    08 little tree 3:51
    0:00/3:51
  9. 9
    09 Thanks 4:03
    0:00/4:03
  10. 10
    10 The Pulse of God 3:19
    0:00/3:19
  11. 11
    11 And For No Reason 2:08
    0:00/2:08
  12. 12
    12 If You Want 4:37
    0:00/4:37
  13. 13
    13 Gloria in excelsis Deo 2:48
    0:00/2:48
  14. 14
    14 Laudamus te 3:03
    0:00/3:03
  15. 15
    15 Gratias agimus tibi 2:09
    0:00/2:09
  16. 16
    16 Coda - Gloria in excelsis Deo' 1:15
    0:00/1:15
  17. 17
    17 The Secret 2:43
    0:00/2:43
  18. 18
    18 Flickering Mind 4:04
    0:00/4:04
  19. 19
    19 Summer Night, Riverside 4:03
    0:00/4:03
  20. 20
    20 There Will Come Soft Rains 3:28
    0:00/3:28

maggie Finnegan

GRAMMY-nominated soprano

Hailed by Opera News  for her "bright coloratura" and "finely tuned high soprano," Ms. Finnegan is in international demand for both opera and art song performance, as well as in the realm of recording.  

maggiefinnegansoprano.com

Joel Harder

Pianist

joelharder.net

Alexis Pia Gerlach

Cellist

https://roco.org/artists/alexis-pia-gerlach/

CONTACT:

Tom Herman

150 W. 82nd Street #4F

New York, NY 10024

(646) 483-5841

TomHerman@tomhermancomposer.com

For reviewing purposes, a hard copy of the CD Tom Herman/Songs From Life is available upon request.