Tom Alonso's musical journey began before the age of one as a frequent backstage visitor to the Baltimore Opera, where his parents met and performed. Tom grew up listening to everything from the Beatles to Grand Opera, but it was in the all-American sounds of Copland, Bernstein and Gershwin that he found his greatest inspiration.

By his high school years Tom had mastered a handful of instruments, including the then up-and-coming Moog synthesizer. After a four-year stint with MTV pioneer Bootcamp in the early '80s, Tom began pursuing his dream of becoming a full-time composer. Success came almost immediately, with Tom composing scores for several PBS documentaries, a feature film and many TV commercials -- for which he was named to AdWeek magazine's prestigious All-Star team. His first solo album, Indian Summer, was released in 1992 to critical acclaim. Soon after, Tom was able to explore his life-long passion for musical theater through two Kennedy Center commissioned scores, Footsteps in the Sky and Escape from Nemotex, and an original adaptation of Phantom of the Opera which resulted in a highly praised original cast CD. Recent successes include a 2 scores for HBO's Family Video Diaries, music and lyrics for the pre-Broadway workshop of The Jazz Singer and his much anticipated second solo album, The Long Way Home.

He is married to Diane Lindwarm Alonso, who holds a Ph. D. in Cognitive Psychology, as well as being a singer and actress. She is the Undergraduate Director for the UMBC Psychology Program at Shady Grove. Their greatest accomplishments, however, are their two daughters, Lisa, 13, and Johanna, 9.