[Thomas Wilkins (Blake J. Discher)]
Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:34 PM
Thomas Wilkins is headed to Phoenix to guest-conduct the
Phoenix Symphony and Miriam Fried, one of the world’s pre-eminent
violinists, in a concert that features Brahms’ Violin Concerto,”
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Márquez’s Danzón No. 2.
Wilkins, principal guest conductor at the Hollywood Bowl in Los
Angeles and music director of the Omaha Symphony, is the first Black
conductor to hold a conducting position with the Boston Symphony. We caught up with him to talk about the road that took him from a
third-grade field trip to the Norfolk Symphony to the realization of a
lifelong dream that trip inspired.
Question: Do you come from a musical family?
Answer: Yes and no. My mother was a church organist
at one of these little storefront churches down South, but not on a
consistent basis.
Q: What was your first instrument?
A: I started on violin in the fourth grade, but only
because everyone had to start on violin. Then I was allowed to switch
to an instrument of choice by fifth grade, so I switched to cello. Then
tuba became my secondary instrument. And in college, tuba became my
primary instrument. So I’m kind of a bass-clef guy.
Q: What inspired your passion for classical music?
A: I’ve wanted to be a conductor since I was 8 years
old. This is a year before I started violin. My third-grade class got
on a bus and went to hear this thing called the Norfolk Symphony. This
man comes out and starts to wave his arms and this incredible sound
happens. I thought, “Gosh, that’s where I want to be is right there in
the middle of all that.” So that became my lifelong dream.
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