Dr. Thomas J. Parente is an Associate Professor of piano at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where he teaches and helps coordinates secondary piano. He is the author of How to Teach Group Piano Successfully through Flow, a training text for teachers of class piano and Essential Materials for Class Piano. He is also a coauthor of Experiencing Choral Music, an innovative series of choral books that is published by McGraw Hill/Glencoe, and The Choral Rehearsal, which is published by GIA Publishing, Inc. Dr. Parente is a frequent clinician and has presented many workshops, courses, and clinics both nationally and internationally on the psychological state of flow as experienced by musicians.

Dr. Parente's recent compositions were performed at the Unitarian Congregation of Montclair to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht and at New York's Merkin Concert Hall. He is the composer of the musical "The Fabulous Jennie" (text and lyrics by Ramon Delgado) which tells the romantic story of how the beautiful and wealthy Jennie Jerome of Brooklyn met and eventually married Randolph Churchill. Jennie and Randolph were to become the parents of Winston Churcill.