Christopher Wilkins

Last updated

Christopher Wilkins (born 1957) is an American music director, conductor, oboist, and a 1992 Seaver/NEA Award recipient. [1]

Contents

Biography

Wilkins was born in Boston, Massachusetts where by 1978 he obtained bachelor's degree from Harvard College He studied with German-born conductor named Otto-Werner Mueller while being enrolled into Yale University and got his Master of Music degree from there by 1981. Two years before it he traveled to West Berlin where he attended Berlin University of the Arts and the same year was awarded John Knowles Paine fellowship from Harvard University. In his hometown he had performances with orchestras like Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood estate and Boston Philharmonic Orchestra which was guided by Benjamin Zander. Later on he assisted Joseph Silverstein at Utah Symphony where he served as an associate conductor, and then, under guidance from Christoph von Dohnányi was an assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. [2]

Under guidance from James DePreist he became an Oregon Symphony's conducting assistant. He also served as the music director of both the Colorado Springs and San Antonio Symphonies orchestras and as of now is an artistic director to the Opera Theatre of the Rockies in Colorado Springs. As a YOA Orchestra of the Americas residential conductor he has conducted at such cities as Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco and also performed overseas in such countries as New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom and in various countries of Latin America. Besides national and international conducting he also was a conductor for various music centers and schools such as the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in the South End and the Conservatory Lab Charter School among many others. In 2013 he collaborated with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, the Boston Lyric Opera and the New England Spiritual Ensemble to assemble a chorus out of all 21 neighborhoods of Boston. [2]

Awards

Related Research Articles

Erich Leinsdorf

Erich Leinsdorf was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality. He also published books and essays on musical matters.

Lorin Maazel French-American conductor

Lorin Varencove Maazel was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in the concert halls of Europe by 1960 but, by comparison, his career in the U.S. progressed far more slowly. He served as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic, among other posts. Maazel was well-regarded in baton technique and possessed a photographic memory for scores. Described as mercurial and forbidding in rehearsal, he mellowed in old age.

Seiji Ozawa Japanese orchestra conductor

Seiji Ozawa is a Japanese conductor known for his advocacy of modern composers and for his work with the San Francisco Symphony, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra where he served as music director for 29 years. He is the recipient of numerous international awards.

David Conte

David Conte, is an American composer who has written over one hundred works published by E.C. Schirmer, including six operas, a musical, works for chorus, solo voice, orchestra, chamber music, organ, piano, guitar, and harp. Conte has received commissions from Chanticleer, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Harvard University Chorus, the Men’s Glee Clubs of Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame, GALA Choruses from the cities of San Francisco, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., the Dayton Philharmonic, the Oakland Symphony, the Stockton Symphony, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, the American Guild of Organists, Sonoma City Opera, and the Gerbode Foundation. He was honored with the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Brock Commission in 2007.

James Levine

James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is primarily known for his tenure as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, a position he held for 40 years (1976–2016). He was formally terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 12, 2018, over sexual misconduct allegations, which he denies.

Alan Gilbert (conductor) American conductor and violinist

Alan Gilbert is an American conductor and violinist. He is a past music director of the New York Philharmonic (2009–2017), and is currently principal conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.

San Antonio Symphony

The San Antonio Symphony is a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, Texas. Its season runs from late September to early June. Sebastian Lang-Lessing is Music Director.

Peter Sandor Erős was a Hungarian-American conductor.

Sir Donald Cameron Runnicles OBE HonFRSE is a Scottish conductor.

The Akron Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra based in Akron, Ohio. The ASO was founded in 1949. In 2006, the ASO appointed Christopher Wilkins music director. Wilkins has agreed to serve as director through 2021.

Tito Muñoz

Tito Arturo Muñoz is an American conductor and is Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony. He was previously Music Director of the Opéra national de Lorraine and Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy in Nancy, France, and Ensemble LPR in New York City, as well as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival and School.

David Alan Miller

David Alan Miller is a Grammy Award-winning American symphony orchestra conductor, and since 1992, music director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Miller served as assistant and associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1987-92 and music director of the New York Youth Symphony from 1982-88. He is currently also Artistic Advisor to The Little Orchestra Society in New York City.

Brett Mitchell is an American conductor who currently serves music director of the Colorado Symphony. He previously served as Associate Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra from 2013 to 2017, Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre National de France from 2006 to 2009, Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony from 2007 to 2011, Music Director of the Moores Opera Center in Houston from 2012 to 2013, and Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra from 2010 to 2015.

Isaiah Allen Jackson is an American conductor who served a seven-year term as conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, of which he has been named Conductor Emeritus. He was the first African-American to be appointed to a music directorship in the Boston area. Dr. Jackson currently teaches at the Berklee College of Music, the Harvard Extension School, and the Longy School of Music.

John Morris Russell is an American orchestral conductor best known for his association with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife and two children.

Keitaro Harada is a Japanese conductor and Music & Artistic Director of Savannah Philharmonic. Harada is a former Associate Conductor of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Arizona Opera, Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra. He has been Music Director & Conductor of the Phoenix Youth Symphony, Assistant Conductor of Macon Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, he was featured in the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview by the League of American Orchestras. In 2014 and 2015, he received The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

The Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an American orchestra based in Pasadena, California. In 2010 it took up residence at the Ambassador Auditorium, where its Classics Series runs from October through April. Since 2012 it performs a summer series at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden from June through September.

Imre Palló is a Hungarian-born conductor. His father, Imre Palló, was the leading baritone of the Budapest State Opera for 50 years, and also director of the company from 1956–1960. The composer Zoltán Kodály was an intimate friend of the Palló family, and was his godfather, playing a very influential role in his early musical training and education. He studied with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music, and privately with Ferenc Fricsay. He served as Fricsay's personal assistant at the Salzburg Summer Festival, and also as the assistant to Herbert von Karajan and Karl Böhm at the Salzburg and Vienna Festivals from 1961–1964. He was also the assistant to Antal Dorati for the Haydn recordings with the Philharmonica Hungarica for the Decca label.

Arthur Post is an American conductor. He was Music Director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and the San Juan Symphony.

Black conductors

Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.

References

  1. "Christopher Wilkins". Akron Symphony. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Christopher Wilkins". Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.