SINCE his inaugural season as conductor of the Boston Pops in 1995 , Keith Lockhart has led 45 national tours and four international tours , delighting audiences with performances at Boston ’ s Symphony Hall , Tanglewood , Super Bowl XXXVI , the 2008 NBA Finals , the 2018 World Series , and the national broadcast of the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular . Coming up at Tanglewood , Lockhart will lead the Pops in Broadway Today !: Broadway ' s Modern Masters , on July 6 , a performance that promises to captivate audiences with rousing tunes from contemporary , TONY ® -winning masterpieces . Highlights include Hamilton , Kimberly Akimbo , Light in the Piazza , The Band ’ s Visit , In the Heights , and Dear Evan Hansen , among others . Lockhart , who is also the artistic director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina , sat down with Berkshire Magazine publisher Dr . Joshua Sherman to share his visionary approach to musical programming , as well as his thoughts on the evolution of Broadway and reflections on conducting .
On Conducting
music
B y D r . J o s h u a S h e r m a n
Modern Maestro
MARCO BORGGREVE
BOSTON POPS CONDUCTOR KEITH LOCKHART ON HIS LOVE FOR BROADWAY MUSIC , THE ART OF CONDUCTING , AND THE BEAUTY OF TANGLEWOOD
SINCE his inaugural season as conductor of the Boston Pops in 1995 , Keith Lockhart has led 45 national tours and four international tours , delighting audiences with performances at Boston ’ s Symphony Hall , Tanglewood , Super Bowl XXXVI , the 2008 NBA Finals , the 2018 World Series , and the national broadcast of the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular . Coming up at Tanglewood , Lockhart will lead the Pops in Broadway Today !: Broadway ' s Modern Masters , on July 6 , a performance that promises to captivate audiences with rousing tunes from contemporary , TONY ® -winning masterpieces . Highlights include Hamilton , Kimberly Akimbo , Light in the Piazza , The Band ’ s Visit , In the Heights , and Dear Evan Hansen , among others . Lockhart , who is also the artistic director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina , sat down with Berkshire Magazine publisher Dr . Joshua Sherman to share his visionary approach to musical programming , as well as his thoughts on the evolution of Broadway and reflections on conducting .
On Conducting
Sherman : Thanks so much for joining us , Keith ! Let ’ s begin with the basics : What do you think makes a good conductor , and what should an audience look for when they are watching a maestro at work ?
Lockhart : A conductor is first and foremost an intermediary . They are an intermediary between the composer and the ensemble , an intermediary between the ensemble and the audience , and an intermediary between members of the ensemble . The original reason for having conductors was because ensembles and orchestras grew to the point where they no longer could hear each other . They needed some sort of common visual point of information so they could all play at the same time . Everything that a conductor does that is not just done for the TV cameras is preparatory , because if you ' re gesticulating to the orchestra at the point that things are happening , you ' re just mirroring them . It ’ s important to look at what the conductor is
32 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday Spring May / June 2024 2023 2024