Trained as a composer and percussionist, Pearson had a successful early career as a session musician and arranger before reinventing himself as one of the main voices on BBC Radio 3. He started with the ground-breaking show for young people, Music Machine, and went on to present all the major strands on the network, including In Tune, Morning on 3, Music Matters, Stage and Screen and hundreds of live concerts, including the Proms. Pearson also appears regularly on BBC4 television. On BBC Radio 4 he has presented the quiz show Full Orchestra, many documentaries, and appears regularly on Front Row and The Film Programme. As an authority on film music, Pearson is in demand as concert host, seminar contributor, festival consultant and broadcaster around the world. He has hosted major film music concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra (the music of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith), the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (the prestigious Filmharmonic galas at Royal Albert Hall) and the BBC Concert Orchestra, and at the World Soundtrack Awards in Belgium where he is a host and consultant (working, in recent years, with composers such as Maurice Jarre, Craig Armstrong, Patrick Doyle, Alberto Iglesias, Rachel Portman, Gabriel Yared).
Pearson has a long association with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; he makes their podcasts and appears regularly with the orchestra on stage, writing and presenting the hugely popular Family Concerts and many school concerts.
Currently, Pearson produces and presents exclusive podcasts for the CBSO, regular audio and video for the LSO, has various television projects in development and plays percussion in orchestras. September sees the launch of Stage & Screen Online, a website offering exclusive interviews with major names in musical theatre and film music; and Pearson is currently working with leading podcast producers Yada-Yada Productions on various projects.

For a comprehensive list of Tommy's credits, please see Projects