Keith Lockhart

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Keith Lockhart's Bio: Keith Lockhart became the twentieth conductor of the Boston Pops in February 1995. In an establishment founded in 1885, he is only the third person to hold this post since 1930. He has added his artistic vision to the Pops tradition established by his predecessors John Williams and Arthur Fiedler, and during his tenure has conducted the Boston Pops in more than 1,200 concerts and introduced the innovative JazzFest and EdgeFest series, which feature the Pops performing with some of today's most prominent jazz and indie artists including Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves, Guster, My Morning Jacket, and Natalie Merchant.

Reflecting a passionate commitment to music of the Broadway stage, Keith has led the Boston Pops in collaboration with the Tanglewood Music Center in concert performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel and Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, as well as musical reviews of the works of Sondheim and Bernstein, performed both at Symphony Hall in Boston and at Tanglewood.

He has also spearheaded collaborations with students from the Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music, and visits music programs in the Boston Public Schools whenever his schedule allows.

Keith has been the driving force behind the success of PopSearch and the Boston Pops High School Sing-Off, performing competitions that have offered talented singers throughout Massachusetts and the United States an opportunity to perform with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall and the July 4 concert on Boston's Charles River Esplanade.

Under Keith's leadership, the Boston Pops has commissioned several new works and dozens of new arrangements. He has worked with a wide array of artists from virtually every corner of the entertainment world. From Hollywood and Broadway stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Mandy Patinkin, and Jason Alexander to popular singers k.d. Lang, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, Elvis Costello, and Patti LaBelle, to jazz and American songbook legends Barbara Cook, Terence Blanchard, Natalie Cole, and Mel Tormé, to classical favorites Dawn Upshaw, Yo-yo Ma and Gil Shaham, He has brought many of the great musicians and entertainers of our day to the Pops stage. He is loved by audiences far and wide for his inimitable style, expressed not only through his consummate music making, but also by his unique ability to speak directly to the audience about the music to which he feels so passionately committed.

Keith and the Boston Pops have released four self-produced recordings, including Sleigh Ride (November, 2004), America (June, 2005), Oscar & Tony (August, 2007), and, most recently, The Red Sox Album (April 2009), a collaboration with Major League Baseball. Keith and the Boston Pops Orchestra also recorded eight albums with RCA Victor: Runnin' Wild: The Boston Pops Play Glenn Miller (October, 1996), American Visions (June, 1997), the Grammy-nominated The Celtic Album (February, 1998), Holiday Pops (September, 1998), A Splash of Pops (June, 1999), Encore! (March, 2000), the Latin Grammy-nominated The Latin Album (September, 2000), and My Favorite Things: A Richard Rodgers Celebration (April, 2002).

Keith has made 66 television shows with the Boston Pops, most recently leading a concert featuring jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, and special guests Sting, John Mayer, and Steven Tyler, which was taped for national broadcast on PBS in March 2009; the concert was also recorded for future release on DVD and CD.

One of Keith's favorite events is the annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, broadcast nationally on CBS Television and watched by approximately 10 million viewers each year. Other telecasts featuring Keith at the helm of the Boston Pops have included Holiday Pops telecasts on PBS, A&E, WCVB-TV (Boston), and WBZ-TV (Boston), as well as Evening at Pops, one of PBS's longest-running shows (1970-2004), for which he taped 38 new programs. Two PBS specials, "Broadway's Best at Pops" and "A Pops Holiday Party," featuring performance footage culled from more than 35 years of Evening at Pops programming, highlighted some of the most popular moments from past programs. The Evening at Pops program "Fiddlers Three," under his direction, won the 2002 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award.

The conductor was honored as an October 2006 recipient of the Bob Hope Patriot Award. This award is presented by the president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society to an individual who, through his or her work, encourages love of country, service to the people of the United States and support of America's Armed Forces.

Keith has led the Boston Pops on 33 national tours, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall, and brought the music of America's Orchestra overseas in four tours of Japan and Korea. He has led the Boston Pops in the national anthem for numerous major sports events, including game two of the NBA Finals in June 2008. In September 2004, he and the Boston Pops performed with Sir Elton John during the live national telecast of the NFL Season Kickoff special. In February 2002, he led the Boston Pops in the pre-game show of Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, the first time an orchestra was featured in a Super Bowl. … Read more