Boston Symphony Orchestra series: Introducing Thomas Wilkins

Thomas Wilkins is Music Director of the Omaha Symphony, a position he has held since 2005. Additionally he is Principal Guest Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and holds the Germeshausen Family and Youth Concert Conductor chair with the Boston Symphony. Past positions have included Resident Conductor of the Detroit Symphony as well as the Florida Orchestra (Tampa Bay) and Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony (Virginia). He served on the music faculties of North Park University (Chicago), the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Committed to promoting a life-long enthusiasm for music, Thomas Wilkins brings energy and commitment to audiences of all ages. For his significant contribution to the children of Tampa Bay, the Pinellas County Music Educators Association named him 1998 Friend of the Arts and the Hillsborough County Elementary Music Educators recognized him as 1998 Music Educator of the Year. In the 2007/2008 season, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra awarded Mr. Wilkins the Classical Roots Musical Achievement Award.

During his conducting career, he has been featured with orchestras throughout the United States, including the Dallas Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and the National Symphony in Washington D.C. He is also a frequent guest conductor of the New Jersey Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, San Diego Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Recent debuts include appearances with the Rochester (NY) Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony and the Boston Symphony. Future engagements include returns to Boston as well as the symphonies of Atlanta, Detroit, San Diego and New Jersey.

Thomas Wilkins also serves as a director at large for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the board of directors of such organizations as the Center Against Spouse Abuse in Tampa Bay, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Academy Preparatory Center for Education, both in St. Petersburg. Currently, he serves as chairman of the board for the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund.

A native of Norfolk, VA, Thomas earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in 1978. In 1982, he was awarded the Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

Thomas and his wife, Sheri-Lee, reside in Omaha. They have twin daughters, Erica and Nicole.