Two years ago, on the day after Christmas, Thomas Dziarmaga’s apartment was broken into. The thief stole many possessions but amongst the most prized was his music. The music was stored on his MacBook Pro laptops. It contained over 10 years of music Thomas had recorded and composed. To listen to Thomas who goes by the name Tommy is to know what a crime this was.
Music is everything to him and in a second it was gone.
A self- taught pianist, his passion started when he was a child. Coming from a polish immigrant family who worked blue collar jobs, money was hard to come by. Yet, what this family lacked in cash they more than made up for in culture. Thomas listened to a lot of Chopin while it played on the polish shows which he watched with his beloved mom as a young boy. His mom was the center of young Thomas’ life. Thomas often told his parents about his desire to learn piano, but they just couldn’t afford to pay for lessons. When he was 10 years old however things started looking up and his father came across an infomercial for a video, called “Teach Yourself Piano Overnight.” Thomas’ Dad purchased the video, and his son delved right in. The idea behind the video was to memorize all the patterns and fingering of chords that were given. The video was about improvisation, and Thomas instantly started making his own music. Every day Thomas would play for his mom. Then something happened that would change his life forever.
Thomas’ mother was diagnosed with liver cancer. She died within 10 days of diagnosis, and just before he was about to enter high school. His mother Halina was his world, his love, and his life. A remarkable woman who Thomas loved dearly. After she died Thomas threw himself into all the arts; music, writing, art, acting. It was his escape and release. Tragically by the time Thomas was 21 his father also passed away.
The silver lining is in Thomas’ music and that is why we have featured him as our video of the week. Thomas puts all his energy into playing and composing which makes this missing music all the more upsetting. So we are asking New Yorkers. If anyone bought a used MacBook Pro laptop in the last 2 years let us know. Thomas is missing two and he doesn’t want the laptops back but the music that’s on them. There’s a missing H key on one of the keyboards. The serial numbers of both machines are c02fc7zmd, and w8612851vj3, Ask a New Yorker is asking anyone who has the laptops to come forward. The person who stole it was caught by police but the laptop with Tommy’s music is still at large! Ask a New Yorker is asking you to help solve Tommy’s problem and find the missing music that this musical wizard composed!
