By Mikael Wood Contact Reporter
Friday, June 16, 2017
Friday, June 16, 2017
Thomas Wilkins was clearly psyched to learn something new about his iPhone.
“There’s
a do-not-disturb function?” the conductor asked when I sat down with
him (and set up my phone to record our conversation) on a recent
afternoon at the Hollywood Bowl. “Hot dang! You’ll have to show me where
that is.”
You can’t blame him for occasionally wanting a little
peace and quiet: In addition to his seasonal gig leading the Hollywood
Bowl Orchestra, which since 2008 has put him on the podium behind the
likes of Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan and “Weird Al” Yankovic, Wilkins, 60,
serves as the music director of the Omaha Symphony and holds an endowed
chair with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Yet it’s precisely
Wilkins’ focus — the sense he’d rather be nowhere else — that makes him a
pleasure to encounter every summer at the Bowl. Flexing a performance
style that’s equal parts maestro and master of ceremonies, he tells
thoughtful stories about the music he’s conducting and jokes around with
headliners in a way that breaks down the wall between pop act and
classical orchestra.
Ahead of Saturday’s opening night concert
featuring the Moody Blues, Wilkins discussed working with kids, working
with control freaks — and whom he wants to work with more than anybody
else.
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