LAist Interview: Thomas Wilkins, Principal Guest Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl
Friday night the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra will be conducted by Thomas Wilkins, the new Principal Guest Conductor. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Wilkins serves as the Music Director of the Omaha Symphony and the Resident Conductor of the Detroit Symphony. Last summer Wilkins led the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in the fireworks finale with Pink Martini. With great enthusiasm for his new gig, he will be conducting several programs at the Bowl this summer.
LAist ask Thomas Wilkins about how he chose a career in music, what he plans to do during his time in LA, and who he looks forward to working with this summer.
What is your earliest memory of classical music?
My earliest memory is the same one that made me decide that I wanted to be a conductor, believe it or not. I was eight years old. My third grade class went to hear the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra. I don’t remember what they played, but I remember that I had never heard a symphony orchestra before and I fell in love that day with the sound and with the whole notion of leading the sound. I walked away saying to my teacher and family that that was what I wanted to do.
I was a kid born to a single mother in a housing project in Norfolk. For me I look at music as the thing that probably saved my life. In poverty in an inner-city neighborhood, you are not overrun with positive choices. Because I had chosen music a lot of my critical life questions were answered: who I would hang out with,whether or not I would go to college, what do I do with my spare time. I look at music and my career in music as a vehicle to help people walk away as better human beings. If they are adults that is one sort of stage, but if they are kids that is another sort of stage. The thing is that I have street cred, as the expression goes. I love to talk to a kid and help them understand there are other choices they can make with their life.
Mentoring makes such a difference.
All you have to do is turn on the news to see how many grown ups there are on this planet, who’s chief aim is to do kids harm. Those of us who are decent human beings need to do extra work to make sure we can surround them and keep them safe and let them grow up whole.
Recently you conducted the Houston Symphony in the Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition. What is your advice to aspiring musicians?
I usually give them the same three pieces of advice. The first is to understand that their biggest competition is ignorance, not the person sitting next to them. That is something I actually borrowed from Wynton Marsalis many years ago. It stuck with me. The second piece of advice is to understand that if you wake up in the morning intent on doing battle with your biggest competitor, you always end up learning something by the end of the day. You always end up winning. The third one is to understand that it is not about us, but about the music. We are merely servants to the music, so that we can give it away to the audience. It is supposed to be life affirming and life altering. That necessitates us getting ourselves out of the way.
You are also known for your community work. What projects are you involved in now?
I am still Chairman of the Board of Raymond James Charitable Fund. The charitable arm of Raymond James Financial. In Omaha doing some things with the Omaha Housing Authority with their outreach to children and the elderly. I give speeches and make appearances. I invite kids to rehearsals. In Omaha, I just stared a fund for summer music camp for needy students. It’s completely separate from what the orchestra is doing. It’s just my own account, so that I can be on the golf course and say if I make this put you have to put $100 in the account. That is the thing I am really focusing on right now. Making sure that kids have something to do when school is out. When kids have nothing but free time on their hands, they get into trouble. I can help them have another avenue of something to do in the summertime as well as resist the temptation to put their instrument down during the summer and walk away from it.
Are you going to be doing any outreach while you are here in LA?
I have talked to them about it. In fact I have made myself completely available because it is something I feel strongly about.
Now let’s talk about the Hollywood Bowl. On June 20, opening night at the Bowl will mark your debut as the Principal Guest Conductor. The evening will be capped off by fireworks. Last summer you conducted the Fireworks Spectacular with Pink Martini. Are you a big fan of classical music and pyrotechnics?
I think classical music has its own inherit pyrotechnics. I have been around fireworks for so many years that nothing ever surprises me anymore.
What are some of your favorite pieces that you will be presenting with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra this summer?
I am looking forward to the music we are playing on the romance night. We are playing tangos with Peter Soave on bandoneon. Those are funky jazzy, hip, classical pieces. I really like the voice of Piazzolla. I am looking forward to working with Chris Isaak. And the Night in Old Havana program. That’s one that you have to move your hips.
You and the orchestra will be working with many artists and bands. How do you help the orchestra prepare for these collaborations?
This is an orchestra that can do anything. They can play Pink Martini and Beethoven on the turn of a dime, if they need to. That’s really cool. They are extremely versatile in that way. That means not only are they good craftsmen, but they also are good listeners. That is the big part about collaboration, the listening part of the communication. There is really not much that I need to do to prepare them. We just need to make sure that all of us are on the same page once we get to the gig.
There are certain pieces that the orchestra will play several times this summer. How do you keep it fresh and exciting for them?
I used to work at a place where we did six shows a day, six days a week. I was in college working at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. One of the things that was impressed upon us as young musicians in “show business” is that when you get to the sixth show on the sixth day, it is still the first show for the people in the audience. They deserve the same enthusiasm, energy, and passion that you gave to the first show on the first day. That is part of my work ethic for one thing. The other thing is that it is music for crying out loud. We are not making widgets. Music always changes. The same piece changes from night to night because we change from night to night. I have this one life philosophy, which is “do not squander”. So I do not want to squander musical opportunities, because they are all a gift. Just like I don’t want to squander my family, because they are a gift. And I don’t want to squander time on the golf course, because that is a gift. I think it is a combination of those two things, the work ethic and the nature of the business that we are in. I never want to take advantage of any opportunity that I get.
How are LA audiences different from other places that you have worked?
This is a very interesting question. My thought was that they would be very different. I have spent a lot of time talking to my audiences. Sometimes I bump into them in the grocery story. I remember meeting people after my concerts at the Bowl last summer or even when I was walking off stage. A lady looked up and said, 'Oh we need you here at the Bowl'. She wasn’t all gushy or anything. Her point was thank you for the human interaction. I relayed that story to to my Executive Director in Detroit, Anne Parsons, about how people have come up and welcomed me. They say, 'You are just the right thing for us'. They are talking about connecting. They want that and they desire that. Human being are human beings. The answer to your question is that I have been more impressed by what seems to be the sameness of audiences in LA, than I have about discovering anything that is different.
How does your family feel about spending time in LA this summer?
We are all pumped. I used to say that I am a California boy at heart and that if I were in any other line of work I would probably live in California. It’s funny that now that I am going to be spending a lot of time in LA and I am in this line of work.
And we have many great golf courses.
Let me tell you I have already thrown the gauntlet out. I made it known that I want to play golf.
Where are you looking forward to visiting while you are in LA?
I want to visit all the studios. Many many years ago I got to see The Tonight Show. I would really love to see Jimmy Kimmel.
When you are the Bowl what will be in your picnic basket?
My picnic basket will have what I always take to work. On concerts nights, I bring two bananas, a thing of Gatorade, and a Snickers bar. The banana is my pre-concert meal. The Snickers bar is my intermission food and the Gatorade just goes all night long to keep me from cramping up.
And then you head to a nice steakhouse after the show?
I eat like a pig after the concert, because I don’t eat dinner before. I eat a late lunch and then take a nap and then I have my banana, Snickers, Gatorade thing. After the show I pig out, then I am up until about 2 or 3 in the morning.
What would we find you doing on a day off?
I a big sitcom and cartoon fanatic. So I have all the episodes of Mary Tyler Moore, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bob Newhart. I am about to order all of the old Get Smarts. I have all of the Flintstones, all of the Jetsons, and all of the Johnny Quest. And I love Seinfeld and Star Trek too. My wife yesterday was making fun of me because she said something to me that reminded me of an old Star Trek episode. She said the trouble with something and I said "That’s like the Trouble with Tribbles". She said "What?" and I said that it was the name of a Star Trek episode. She said, "You really are a sick man".
What are you listening to now?
On my iPhone, I have all of the Pink Martini recordings, Miles Davis, K. D. Lang. I like Willie Nelson. I like John Coltrane. Sara Vaughn. I like James Taylor. All of the James Taylor recordings are on my iPhone. James Taylor is my all time favorite artist.
Friday night you can see Thomas Wilkins in action for Opening Night of the 2008 Hollywood Bowl Season.
Performances that will be conducted by Thomas Wilkins this summer:
Opening Night at the Bowl with Sir James Galway, Liza Minnelli, and B.B. King
Some Enchanted Evening: A Night of Romance with Special Guest Chris Isaak
A Night in Old Havana with Cachao'a Mambo All-Stars
photo by Blake J. Discher