Wilkins Appointed to IU Jacobs School of Music Faculty

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Thomas Wilkins, a gifted conductor who is celebrated for his ability to communicate with orchestras as well as audiences, and who wants to see the ranks of classical musicians grow more culturally diverse, has been appointed professor of music (orchestral conducting) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He will assume the Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting, which was established by the late Barbara and David Jacobs as a part of Indiana University’s “Matching the Promise Campaign.” Wilkins’ appointment will begin on August 1. Wilkins is currently the music director of the Omaha Symphony, a position he will retain through the 2020-21 season, whereupon he will become music director emeritus. In addition, he is principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and holds the Germeshausen Family and Youth Concert Conductor Chair with the Boston Symphony. Past positions include resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony and the Florida Orchestra (Tampa Bay), and associate conductor of the Richmond (Va.) Symphony. He also has served on the music faculties of North Park University (Chicago), the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Wilkins is a graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

During his conducting career, he has led orchestras throughout the United States, including The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra—both of which he returned to guest conduct in the 2016-17 season. He has conducted the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Utah Symphony, National Symphony in Washington, D.C., and at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago (where he will return in summer 2017), among other engagements.