Tom Wang’s first instrument was piano, which he studied for seven years under Sheila Vail, until he moved from Ohio to Washington State. After his move, Tom started to play clarinet with the school band when he was 12 and started taking private lessons with Emily Khudyev when he was 13. Leveraging his prior piano and music theory studies, Tom quickly developed his talents on the clarinet. After just two years of private study, in 2025, Tom became the principal clarinetist for the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO); he came in first place in the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA) regional ensemble competition, and third place in the solo division. In the summer of 2024, he played with the Interlochen World Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Tom is a joint recipient of the 2025 Music of Remembrance Young Artist/David Tonkonogui Memorial Award. He said, “With the many inequalities and discrimination people face every day, DTMA is a way for me to express the idea of equality. Through my music playing I hope to inspire people with the ideologies of DTMA and share amazing ideas through music.” - Tom Wang