Mr. Thomas Daniel Demps was born in Key West, the southernmost city in Florida.  Tommy, as his parents called him, enjoyed singing.  Music was deeply embedded in his soul.   He participated in the high school choir and expressed aspirations of becoming a professional concert singer.  Upon graduating from high school, he enrolled in the music program at Bethune-Cookman College (B-CC) and, as a freshman, became a soloist in the choir.  After a year at B-CC, he was drafted into military service. 

Following basic training, he auditioned for and was selected to sing with the 372nd Infantry Regiment Glee Club and was quickly selected as one of three soloists for the group.  The Glee Club so pleased the military officials that they were attached to a special service unit, traveling throughout the Pacific Theater and European areas entertaining fellow soldiers.  Another member of the unit was Brock Peters, who became a star on Broadway, television and the movies.

Tommy re-enrolled at Bethune-Cookman College after three years of military service.  While enrolled, he was a member of Omega Psi  Phi Fraternity, the Omega Ensemble, and the Mummies and Zeniths (MZs) Social Club. He taught for one year after receiving his Bachelor's Degree from B-CC.  He then studied at Columbia University in New York City, earning a master’s degree in music.

Still determined to fulfill a boyhood dream, he returned to New York to audition with the Leonard de Paur Choir.  Following a successful audition, he was selected as the tenor soloist for the group.  As a professional singer, he traveled throughout the United States to perform with this distinguished group.  When the singing group disbanded, he returned to B-CC in 1954, becoming an instructor of music and choir director. Now a former professional singer and a college professor, a name change was in order.  Although his close friends and family continued to call him Tommy, he became Mr. Demps to his students, and, ultimately, was affectionately called "Doc" by the hundreds of students whose lives he touched during his 20 years at B-CC.  He generated numerous top-rated choral groups over the years.  

When asked about his experiences at the college, he stated, “My most memorable year at B-CC was in 1960 when the Bethune-Cookman College Choir performed before a capacity house at Carnegie Hall.”   He considered the highlight of his career to be when the B-CC Concert Chorale was invited by the Israeli government to participate in the Jerusalem Festival of American College Choirs in January of 1971. 

Mr. Demps was an exceptional music teacher and choral director.  He felt the music and helped his students feel it as well.  He instilled a love for music in the lives of hundreds of chorale members.   Those who were trained by Doc cherish the memories and relish the stereophonic sound produced by his choral groups.

~ T. D. D. ~

"Tone, Diction and Dynamics"

~ Biographical Information Extracted from the B-CC Concert Chorale Album Cover ~