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Welcome to the Tom Constanten Wing
Tom Constanten is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame keyboard player who was a member of the Grateful Dead from 1968 to 1970. After having limited success on the violin in his youth, Tom decided the piano was a better fit for him. He is classically trained and studied with world class instructors such as: Luciano Berio, Henri Pousseur, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Pierre Boulez. It was with Berio at Mills College in San Francisco where Tom shared the class with Phil Lesh, who would become a core member and bassist of the Grateful Dead.
During this period in the mid- 60’s, there was a lot of experimenting going on in the developing “minimal” music genre – and Tom was in the thick of it. With the 60’s being a turbulent time with hostilities overseas, Tom enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a computer programmer. When he had leave from the Air Force, Tom would join up with his friend Phil Lesh for sessions with the “Dead”. Immediately after his release from military service he joined the band. In his tenure with the Grateful Dead, he appeared on the seminal albums “Anthem of the Sun”, “Aoxomoxoa”, “Live/Dead” and classic live performances at The Fillmore East and Woodstock.
After his time with the Grateful Dead, Tom went on to a successful solo career and collaborated with artists such as Jefferson Starship, Jorma Kaukonen, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, The Flying Burrito Brothers and many others. He also has worked at Harvard, Mills College and SUNY Buffalo.
