Biography

Thomas Wilkins is principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, artistic advisor for education and community engagement at the Boston Symphony, principal guest conductor of the Virginia Symphony, and the Henry A. Upper Chair of orchestral conducting at Indiana University. He served as music director of the Omaha Symphony until 2021, and other past positions have included resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony and Florida Orchestra and associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony in Virginia. He also has served on the music faculties of North Park University in Chicago, the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He has guest conducted orchestras throughout the United States and made his San Francisco Symphony debut in December 2019.

Devoted to promoting a lifelong enthusiasm for music, Wilkins brings energy and commitment to audiences of all ages. He has received many awards, including the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton Award and the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards Lifetime Achievement Award for Music. Boston’s Longy School of Music awarded him the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society, and he was the beneficiary of an honorary doctorate of the arts from the Boston Conservatory.