Tom Flaherty is a composer and cellist who works with music for humans and electronics.

He earned degrees at Brandeis University, S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook, and the University of Southern California, where he studied with Martin Boykan, Bülent Arel, and Frederick Lesemann and cello with Timothy Eddy and Bernard Greenhouse.

Recent commissions include Looking for Answers for the Mojave Trio, which includes Eclipse violinist Sara Parkins and cellist Maggie Parkins, and Mixed Messages for pianist Vicki Ray and Eclipse violinist Sarah Thornblade.

A recent recording of his Airdancing for piano, toy piano, and electronics was nominated for a Grammy in 2015.

His composition has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Music Center, the Pasadena Arts Council, the Massachusetts Council for the Arts and Humanities, the Delius Society, the University of Southern California, "Meet the Composer," and Yaddo.

His music has been performed throughout Europe and North America by such new music ensembles as Dinosaur Annex in Boston, Speculum Musicae and Odyssey Chamber Players in New York, Earplay and Volti in San Francisco, Concorde in Dublin (Ireland), Gallery Players in Toronto (Canada), Mojave Trio, XTET and Brightwork newmusic in Los Angeles; and by such performers as soprano Lucy Shelton; cellists Maggie Parkins and Roger Lebow; violinists Sarah Thornblade and Rachel Huang; organist William Peterson, and pianists Genevieve Feiwen Lee, Nadia Shpachenko, Susan Svr?ek, Vicki Ray, Aron Kallay, and Karl and Margaret Kohn.

Published by G. Schirmer, Inc. and American Composers Editions, his compositions have been recorded on the Albany, Bridge, Capstone, Klavier, Reference, and SEAMUS labels.

Although he does have a preference for humans, he happily directs the Pomona College Electronic Studio, where students and faculty create a wide variety of music, and which is the motivation for Pomona's annual Ussachevsky Festival of Electronic Music.