Tom Bopp
Musician/Historian Tom Bopp has entertained and educated Yosemite’s guests at the Wawona Hotel and The Ahwahnee since 1983. His interest in Yosemite’s cultural history led him to develop interpretive events for the Yosemite National Park Centennial in 1990, the Camp Curry Centennial in 1999, The Ahwahnee 75th Anniversary (2002), Yosemite Heritage Holidays
(2003-2009), regular programs on Wawona history, Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir's 1903 camping trip to Yosemite, Yosemite music and culture, and a film documentary called
Vintage Songs of Yosemite.
Born in southern California (1957) and raised in Torrance, Tom studied classical piano for 10 years and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA in Music Theory & Composition.
Tom’s repertoire is an eclectic but by no means comprehensive mélange, representing his shifting tastes in music, or as he puts it, a short attention-span.
Whether he’s performing cabaret songs, antique salon music, cowboy ditties, leftovers from long-ago classical piano lessons, Depression-era tunes, or ragtime, spontaneity is the thing Tom likes best.
In January, 2006 Tom was one of seven out of some 40,000 worldwide employees to receive Delaware North Corporation's Legacy Award of Service Excellence.
Tom’s repertoire is an eclectic but by no means comprehensive mélange, representing his shifting tastes in music, or as he puts it, a short attention-span.
Whether he’s performing cabaret songs, antique salon music, cowboy ditties, leftovers from long-ago classical piano lessons, Depression-era tunes, or ragtime, spontaneity is the thing Tom likes best.
In January, 2006 Tom was one of seven out of some 40,000 worldwide employees to receive Delaware North Corporation's Legacy Award of Service Excellence.
On December 17, 2008, Tom was awarded the annual Yosemite Fund Award (now
Yosemite Conservancy) "in recognition of the significant effort he has made to enhance the value of Yosemite National Park as a national treasure."
Tom entertained at a private home gathering for Vice President and Mrs. Dick Cheney in 2006, and opened for President Barack Obama for his public address in Yosemite in 2016.
Tom entertained at a private home gathering for Vice President and Mrs. Dick Cheney in 2006, and opened for President Barack Obama for his public address in Yosemite in 2016.
Tom’s eclectic tastes are represented on five CDs, occasionally available on the internet at
YosemiteMusic.com.
His first movie, "Vintage Songs Of Yosemite - The DVD" is based on his multi-media performances by the same title, presenting the first century of the Yosemite Experience through vintage music, stories, art, photography, and the only complete iteration of the Fire Fall on film. Tom continues to perform at the Wawona Hotel (see SCHEDULE), but no longer performs winters at Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel (after 35 seasons there).