In 1859, at age twenty-four, after conducting his first two concerts, Theodore Thomas had this to say about his future work, "I planned to devote my energies to the cultivation of instrumental music." In the proceeding years, he had progressed from a violinist, to a concert master, to a soloist, and then to a chamber player. In the last thirteen years of his life after settling in Chicago, he made both his greatest historical contribution and accomplished his life's goal in the founding of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and in finding a permanent home for his orchestra. In the forty-some years between the time he was a musician, and the time when he permanently came to Chicago, he was developing as a conductor and a builder of orchestras. Theodore Thomas is remembered in history for introducing the public to classical music in the United States through his work as a conductor, and a builder of orchestras. .
On October 11, 1835, Theodore Thomas was born in Esens, East Friesland Germany. Starting at an early age, his father, who was the town's musician, taught him to play the violin. At the age of six, he played publicly for the first time. When he was ten, the Thomas family moved to New York, New York, to seek a better life. Thomas helped to support the family by playing at dances, weddings, and at saloons where he would pass his hat around to get money. In 1853, Thomas joined Jullien's Orchestra on its visit to New York. In the next year, he became a member of the New York Philharmonic Society. At 22, he already was a prominent New York violinist, and he was leading a prosperous life. On April 20, 1859, he replaced the concert conductor, Carl Anschutz, only minutes before show time. After a second concert on September 19, 1859, Thomas deiced to change his life's work from a musician to an orchestra conductor. .
An important meeting took place in New York in 1889, between Thomas and Charles Norman Fay, who was a successful Chicago businessman.