Thomas Wilkins

Devoted to promoting a life-long enthusiasm for music, Thomas Wilkins brings energy and commitment to audiences of all ages. He is hailed as a master at communicating and connecting with audiences. Wilkins is the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s artistic advisor for education and community engagement. Other posts include principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Virginia Symphony, and Indiana University’s Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting, established by the late Barbara and David Jacobs as a part of the university’s “Matching the Promise” campaign. He completed his long and successful tenure as music director of the Omaha Symphony at the close of the 2020-2021 season. Other past positions have included resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Florida Orchestra in Tampa, and associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony in Virginia. He also has served on the music faculties of North Park University in Chicago, University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.  

Following his highly successful first season with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Globe named him among the “Best People and Ideas of 2011.” In 2014, Wilkins received the prestigious Outstanding Artist Award at the Nebraska Governor’s Arts Awards for his significant contribution to music in the state. In 2018 he received the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society conferred by the Longy School of Music. In 2019 the Virginia Symphony bestowed upon him their annual Dreamer Award. In 2022 the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards presented him with their Lifetime Achievement Award for Music, Boston Conservatory awarded him an honorary doctorate of arts, and he was the recipient of the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton Award. 

During Wilkins’ conducting career, he has led orchestras throughout the United States, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra, to name a very few.  

His commitment to community has been demonstrated by his participation on several boards of directors, including the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Charles Drew Health Center in Omaha, Center Against Spouse Abuse in the Tampa Bay area, and the Museum of Fine Arts and Academy Preparatory Center in St. Petersburg, FL. Currently he serves as chairman of the board for the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund and as national ambassador for the nonprofit World Pediatric Project headquartered in Richmond, VA, which provides children throughout Central America and the Caribbean with critical surgical and diagnostic care. 

A native of Norfolk, VA, Thomas Wilkins is a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He and his wife Sheri-Lee are the proud parents of twin daughters, Erica and Nicole.