Keith Lockhart became the twentieth conductor of the Boston Pops in 1995, adding his artistic vision to the Pops tradition established by his predecessors John Williams and Arthur Fiedler. During his tenure, he has conducted the Boston Pops in more than 1,000 concerts and introduced the innovative JazzFest and EdgeFest series, which feature the Pops performing with some of today’s most prominent jazz and indie artists including Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves, Guster, My Morning Jacket, and Natalie Merchant. Reflecting a passionate commitment to music of the Broadway stage, Mr. Lockhart has led the Boston Pops in collaboration with the Tanglewood Music Center in concert performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, as well as musical reviews of the works of Sondheim and Bernstein, performed both at Symphony Hall in Boston and at Tanglewood. He has also spearheaded collaborations with students from the Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music, and visits music programs in the Boston Public Schools whenever his schedule allows. Mr. Lockhart has been the driving force behind the success of PopSearch and the Boston Pops High School Sing-Off, performing competitions which have offered talented singers throughout Massachusetts and the United States an opportunity to perform with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall and the July 4 concert on Boston’s Charles River Esplanade. Under Keith Lockhart’s leadership, the Boston Pops has commissioned several new works and dozens of new arrangements. Keith Lockhart has worked with a wide array of artists from virtually every corner of the entertainment world. From Hollywood and Broadway stars Jessica Parker, Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Mandy Patinkin, and Jason Alexander to popular singers k.d. Lang, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, Elvis Costello, and Patti LaBelle, to jazz and American songbook legends Barbara Cook, Terence Blanchard, Natalie Cole, and Mel Tormé, to classical favorites Dawn Upshaw and Gil Shaham, Keith Lockhart has brought many of the great musicians and entertainers of our day to the Pops stage.
Mr. Lockhart is loved by audiences far and wide for his inimitable style, expressed not only through his consummate music making, but also by his unique ability to speak directly to the audience about the music to which he is so passionately committed.
Boston Pops Recordings and Internet Projects
Mr. Lockhart and the Boston Pops have released three self-produced recordings, including Sleigh Ride, America, and, most recently, Oscar & Tony, which provided the basis for the Pops’s first Internet TV broadcast, the first such program offered by a symphony orchestra.Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra have also recorded eight albums with RCA Victor—Runnin’ Wild: The Boston Pops Play Glenn Miller, American Visions, the Grammy-nominated The Celtic Album, Holiday Pops, A Splash of Pops, Encore!, the Latin Grammy-nominated The Latin Album, and My Favorite Things: A Richard Rodgers Celebration. Boston Pops Recordings are available at bostonpops.org.
Boston Pops Broadcasts
Keith Lockhart has made 66 television shows with the Boston Pops, most recently leading a concert featuring jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, and special guests Sting, John Mayer, and Steven Tyler, which was taped for national broadcast on PBS in March 2009; the concert was also recorded for future release on DVD and CD. One of Mr. Lockhart’s favorite events is the annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, broadcast nationally on CBS Television and watched by approximately 10 million viewers each year. Other telecasts featuring Mr. Lockhart at the helm of the Boston Pops have included Holiday Pops telecasts on PBS, A&E, WCVB-TV (Boston), and WBZ-TV (Boston), as well as Evening at Pops, one of PBS’s longest-running shows, from 1970 to 2004, for which Mr. Lockhart taped 38 new programs. Two PBS specials, “Broadway’s Best at Pops” and “A Pops Holiday Party,” featuring performance footage culled from more than 35 years of Evening at Pops programming, highlighted some of the most popular moments from past programs with Arthur Fiedler, John Williams, and Keith Lockhart. The Evening at Pops program, “Fiddlers Three,” under the direction of Mr. Lockhart, won the 2002 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award.
Boston Pops Touring
Keith Lockhart has led the Boston Pops on 32 national tours, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall, and brought the music of America’s Orchestra overseas in four tours of Japan and Korea. Mr. Lockhart has led the Boston Pops in the national anthem for numerous major sports events, including game two of the NBA playoffs in June 2008. In September 2004, he and the Boston Pops performed with Sir Elton John during the live national telecast of the NFL Season Kickoff special. In February 2002, he led the Boston Pops in the pre-game show of Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
Keith Lockhart Background And Other Conducting Projects
Born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Keith Lockhart began his musical studies with piano lessons at the age of 7. He holds degrees from Furman University in Greenville, S.C., and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and has previously served as associate conductor of both the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops orchestras. In addition to guest conducting appearances in the United States and abroad, Mr. Lockhart also holds the titles of artistic advisor and principal conductor of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. As Music Director of the Utah Symphony since 1998, Mr. Lockhart led that orchestra at the 2002 Olympic Games; he will conclude his tenure there after the 2008-09 season. Visit keithlockhart.com for further information.
Join the BSO Mobile Club and be notified of performance reminders, premiums and special offers directly to your cell phone.![[Keith Lockhart]](/images/_images/_musicians/KeithLockhartx95.jpg)
