Singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Brian McKnight has released nineteen albums over the past twenty-five years, selling more than thirty million copies worldwide, and receiving sixteen Grammy award nominations. In 1992, he released his self-titled debut album, which landed on the Billboard 200 chart. His music video for "Anytime" was nominated for Best Male Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. His most notable album, Back at One, sold more than three million copies. Mr. McKnight’s work has been recognized at the Soul Train Music Awards and American Music Awards, and he was named Billboard Songwriter of the Year. In 2017, he released Genesis, featuring the single “Forever,” which reached the Top 25 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Chart. His latest album, Bedtime Story, was released in June of this year. Mr. McKnight has also starred in the Broadway production of Chicago and served as a red-carpet host for Extra! TV.

Thomas Wilkins has served as Music Director of the Omaha Symphony since 2005. Additionally, he is Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Artistic Advisor of Education and Community Engagement with the Boston Symphony, and he holds Indiana University’s Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting. Past positions have included resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony and Florida Orchestra, and associate conductor of the Richmond (VA) Symphony. 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. 

During his conducting career, Mr. Wilkins has led orchestras throughout the US, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, and National Symphony—all of which he returned to guest conduct in 2019. Additionally, he has guest conducted the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, the symphonies of Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, San Diego and Utah, the Buffalo and Rochester philharmonics, as well as at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. Mr. Wilkins makes his San Francisco Symphony debut at these performances.
 
Devoted to promoting a life-long enthusiasm for music, Mr. Wilkins brings energy and commitment in performances for audiences of all ages. Following his first season with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Globe named him among the Best People and Ideas of 2011. In 2014, he received the 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 by Boston’s Longy School of Music. In 2019, the Virginia Symphony bestowed him with their annual Dreamer Award.

Mr. Wilkins participates on several boards of directors, including the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Charles Drew Health Center (Omaha), Center Against Spouse Abuse in Tampa Bay, and Museum of Fine Arts and Academy Preparatory Center, both in Saint Petersburg, FL. Currently he serves as Chairman of the Board for the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund and as national ambassador for the World Pediatric Project, 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 the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He and his wife are the proud parents of twin daughters.