THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501250153
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
A MEZZO-SOPRANO voice, classical training, experience in Broadway musicals, the stage, television and radio, world travel and a passion for sacred songs are just some of things that Beatrix Zak Thomas brings to her new position as fine arts commissioner.
``I think I started out singing,'' said Thomas, a native of Buffalo, N.Y.
As a young student of voice, Thomas was awarded a scholarship to the Arthur Jordan Conservatory in Indianapolis, and later received performing and studying grants from the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington.
Her training has included the Juilliard School of Music in New York, the Opera Workshop in York, England, the Vienna State Opera in Austria and the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J.
Thomas taught public school music in Alabama and Massachusetts and has given concerts from Maine to Florida.
After she married Lamar Thomas, who was in the U.S. Air Force, she put her career temporarily on hold. There were assignments to Iceland and then back to Washington.
``Instead of long hours of rehearsal, I decided to play with my children,'' Thomas said.
But in Washington, Thomas did become a professional soloist for nine years at the historic St. John's Church, known as the Church of the Presidents, and at Christ Church in Alexandria.
Then there was a move to England and even with raising four children, Thomas found time for studying and performing. In 1965 in an English competition, she won silver trophies for singing light opera, French Art Song and oratorio.
Thomas also sang with the Eighth Air Force Stage Band and the Rhein Main String Ensemble.
When the Thomases were transferred back to the United States, they settled in Alabama. There, for several years, Thomas hosted a daily television show on WKAB-TV, channel 32, in Montgomery. Some of the celebrities she interviewed included Hollywood personalities George Hamilton and Vincent Price, Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton and Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace.
She has been on stage at Old Dominion University, Kempsville Playhouse, Frankfurt American Playhouse, Orlando Opera Company, Montgomery Opera Company, Alabama State University, Montgomery Little Theatre and Bangor Little Theatre.
Some of the plays Thomas has appeared in are ``My Name is Alice,'' ``Becket,'' ``Mikado,'' ``Amahl and the Night Visitors,'' ``Fiddler on the Roof,'' ``Sweet Bird of Youth,'' and ``Three Penny Opera.''
For the past two years the Thomases have lived in Chesapeake, where Lamar is now with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Thomas happily admits the Fine Arts Commission is going to keep her busy. Her goal is to get more involved in the city's cultural activities.
``I have the fantastic privilege to serve on the Fine Arts Commission,'' said Thomas. ``We desperately need to work toward a Fine Arts Building because we have such wonderful performers and incredible talent in Chesapeake. And we do not want to lose this talent.
``We must also be careful that we do not become provincial,'' Thomas warned. ``We must enjoy, encourage and support the arts in Norfolk and Virginia Beach to have an impact throughout Tidewater.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
The travels of Beatrix Zak Thomas and her military husband have
carried her stage, TV and radio career from New England, to the deep
South, to Europe.
by CNB