Thomas Hughes began his musical training at the age of 17 at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem with tenor Glenn Siebert. After private lessons with soprano Rebecca Cook-Carter, Thomas Hughes began performing in various roles in the community. His first major role was Papageno in Mozart's "The Magic Flute". He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at the renowned DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, under the direction of tenor Michael Sylvester and Wagner soprano Elizabeth Byrne. Between 2013 and 2018, he sang roles such as Conte Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Fabian in Joel Feigan's Twelfth Night and Frank Murrant in Kurt Weill's Street Scene. During this time, he also began to focus on oratorio, making his debut as bass soloist in Rossini's Stabat Mater, Mozart and Faure's Requiems and Handel's Messiah.
In 2020, Thomas moved to Zurich where he completed his studies with tenor Scot Weir with a Master of Music in Concert Performance. He is currently focusing on his freelance career and lives in Lucerne, Switzerland with his wife Laura, who is also a musician.