Toshimasa Francis Wada is Artistic Director of the Thayer Symphony Orchestra in Leominster, Massachusetts, a position he has held since1983. Born in Kiryu, Japan, Wada was a precocious child whose interests in art led to the winning of over 30 awards, including one at the national level. While he was in junior high school, a music teacher noted Wada's talent and gave him lessons in voice, flute and theory. By the time he graduated from high school, he had conducting experience in both band and choir. He successfully auditioned for entrance into the Self Defense Band Music School, where he subsequently graduated with highest honors.

Wada traveled to the United States in 1966 where he joined the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. A year later, he was admitted to Catholic University of America, receiving scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate study. While still an undergraduate, he was allowed to enroll in graduate conducting classes. During his graduate work at CUA, he trained in all aspects of conducting and spent a year at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Following completion of his study at CUA, he taught music in high schools and colleges for over a decade, eventually serving as band director at Union College from 1979 to 1983. While at UC, he participated in the International Orchestra Conductors Institute program offered in the summers at Loma Linda University. He was one of a select few chosen to work directly with Herbert Blomstedt in the IOCI master class. When Blomstedt's orchestra, the famed Dresden Staatskapelle, toured in the U.S. in 1983, Wada traveled with them.

That same year he was invited to be conductor and musical director of the Thayer Conservatory Orchestra (forerunner of today's Thayer Symphony Orchestra) and teach at Atlantic Union College. While at AUC, he served as director of the Thayer Conservatory's preparatory program. He subsequently joined the faculty at Holy Cross College where he directed ensembles and, in 1988, he assumed leadership of the Orchestra at Clark College in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Wada has been an innovator in musical outreach to young people. He was a regular conductor in the Worcester County music festival, initiating a highly praised "Salute to Young Artists" program. He also helped create the TSO's "The Music Connection," a program which introduces the very young to orchestra music. Most recently, the TSO established a community music school that enrolled over 200 students within a year of its opening in 2002.

Wada is active in a number of community activities, serving as a panelist and member on cultural advocacy groups, and working with a number of other community service organizations. Fitchburg State College listed him as one of "100 Who Have Made a Difference" in civic matters and also awarded an honorary doctorate. Wada also received the Dr. Robert H. Goldman Award for Community Service in 2002.

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