Thomas Earl Hinton is a native of Clarksville, Tennessee. He served in the US Army as a radio announcer and technician, and entered George Peabody College in 1948. Following college graduation, he served several years as General Manager of the Nashville Symphony. Earl then returned to Peabody, earned the Master of Music degree, and began teaching at Cohn High School while also employed as the timpanist with the Nashville Symphony. Earl completed the doctoral degree from Peabody in May of 1969. His doctoral dissertation investigated instructional provisions and student achievement in music in Tennessee elementary schools.
In 1960, Dr. Hinton became a member of the music faculty at Middle Tennessee State College in Murfreesboro. His early responsibilities included instructing music education courses and the production of materials for middle grade students. “Music Time” was, for the years, produced and distributed to schools systems throughout Middle and East Tennessee. During his thirty-four year tenure at MTSU, Earl taught courses in music education, theory and sight-singing, conducting and also, for ten years, directed the University Orchestra.
Dr. Hinton has served as president of the Tennessee Alliance for Arts Education, the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association, the Tennessee Music Educators Association, and the Southern Division of Music Education National Conference. He is the author of “A Brief History of the Tennessee Music Educators Association" published by TMEA in 1998.
Hinton and his wife Nora have two sons: Ken, a Nashville architect and Keith, a Nashville businessman.