In December, our first “Good Egg” article cracked open the busy life of Paul, a Westerly teen. This month, readers are introduced to our second Good Egg in a dozen – Tom, a teen from Mystic.
Thomas Richard Gareth Readett, otherwise known as Tom, began his life across the Atlantic in the fair town of Basingstoke, England, about 50 miles southwest of London. At the age of 3, his parents brought him to the U.S. and they settled in Mystic. Tom’s mother is American, and his father is British, so he enjoys being a citizen of both the U.S. and the U.K.
Fast forward to 2018 and Tom is now 17, still living in Mystic, and is making plans to attend college and the fulfillment of his almost life-long dream, the seeds of which were planted in his soul way back in the third grade.
It was a simple homework assignment that changed Tom’s life. He was a student at Butler School in Groton and, as part of the school’s string program, the teacher presented the students with a choice of instruments. Tom says he chose the cello “on a whim.” The homework the teacher gave was to take the chosen instrument home and play only one string on the instrument.
Later that evening young Tom took out the cello, chose the D string, and as the teacher instructed, plucked just that one string. Tom sat quietly and kept playing the string over and over and over. About two hours later he was still playing that one string and his parents had to interrupt his concentration to tell him it was bedtime.
There must’ve been something about the sound of that D string that touched Tom’s soul that night because the cello has since become the calling on his life and a career path on which he is already starting to travel. Today, Tom easily explains that the sound a cello makes is the “closest in range to the human register” and can express many emotions.
Tom’s mother thought his love of the instrument would be short-lived, as it is with many children, but by the end of the third grade, Tom asked his parents for private cello lessons. He enthusiastically attended the lessons each week and soaked up all that his influential instructor, Christine Coyle, had to teach.
Now several years later, he is an accomplished musician with experience in the Thames Valley Music School’s Youth Symphony and a Chamber Music Quartet. He continues to practice every evening for about six hours. He spends his weekends in New York City taking additional cello lessons and music classes at the Manhattan School of Music’s pre-college program. Tom’s passion for the cello and dedication to his craft at such a young age is remarkable.
Above and beyond his professional aspirations of playing in a major symphony someday, particularly with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Tom also enjoys everyday life with his friends from Fitch High School. Asked how his friends might describe him, Tom said they’d probably say he was “crazy, a class clown, having a big personality, hyper and energetic.”
Regarding his musical style, Tom describes himself as a “flamboyant cellist” who likes to “play fast and loud.” Currently, his musical inspirations are Yo Yo Ma, his professor Marion Feldman at the Manhattan School of Music, and a 16-year-old teen prodigy named Sujari Britt.
Aside from his dedication to the cello (he also plays the piano), Tom is the Treasurer for the Class of 2018 and an A student. He is the captain of cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and has been named All-State, All-Area, and All E.C.C. (Eastern Connecticut Conference) in his division. He runs track every day after school, and then after eating dinner with his parents, he practices the cello.
Tom has also been involved in his church, St. Mark’s Episcopal in Mystic, where he learned storytelling skills through a training program to become a “Godly Play Teacher” for children. With barrels of youthful energy Tom also manages to find time for dog walking and snow shoveling jobs in his neighborhood.
There are other reasons that Tom deserved being named a “Good Egg” that go beyond his dedication to music, and in the whole scheme of things are actually more important. He is an all-around great son to his parents, a good friend, loves his pets, and is an overall positive human being who wants to make a difference in the world. A person like Tom is a ray of light in a culture that is frequently pessimistic.
As Tom’s life is starting to stretch beyond Mystic and he reaches towards his next goal of attending college either at the Manhattan School of Music, or New York University, his two first choices for college, he shared that his goal is to use the music he makes with the cello to give “happiness and joy to the world.”
Hearing about Tom’s life at the mere age of 17, the quality of his relationships, his enthusiasm for life, good heart and upbeat personality, it sounds like he is already bringing much happiness and joy to the people around him.
If anyone would like to nominate someone (ninth grade to age 25) to be considered for this series, please e-mail [email protected].
