Louise Thomas is Director of Collaborative Arts at Chapman University. She received her doctorate in piano performance from USC, where she studied with John Perry.

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Louise is the recipient of all major Irish national awards. After completing her undergraduate music studies at Trinity College Dublin, Louise received a full scholarship to pursue a graduate piano performance degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover in Germany.

In recent years Louise has concertized in England, Russia, Austria and Germany, and has performed regularly in her home country. In 1993, she won 2nd prize at the Ibla- Ragusa International Piano Competition in Sicily, where she was awarded the Bela Bartók Prize.

In 1998, she won the concerto competition at USC. An active chamber musician, Louise has made a CD recording with the Irish contemporary music group Nua Nós at the Banff Center for the Arts, Canada as well as radio recordings for BBC radio in Northern Ireland and for Moscow Radio.

Dr. Thomas has performed at Carnegie Hall and recorded for the Ovation cable arts channel in Los Angeles. In 2002 she toured Taiwan and appeared in concerts throughout the United States.