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Keith Lockhart conductor

Keith Lockhart is Conductor of the Boston Pops and Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina (U.S.).

2020 marked his 25th anniversary as Conductor of the Boston Pops, a tenure that includes over 2,000 performances, 45 national tours to more than 150 cities, and four international tours. He and the Pops have made 80 television shows and participated in such high-profile sporting events as Super Bowl XXXVI, the 2008 NBA finals, the 2013 Boston Red Sox Ring Ceremony, and, most recently, Game 2 of the 2018 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. The annual July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular draws a live audience of more than half a million, with millions more who watch on television or live webcast.

From 2010-2018, Keith was Principal Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and he spent a two-year term as Chief Guest Conductor following his initial appointment. Highlights of his tenure include critically acclaimed North American tours, conducting annual performances at The Proms, and celebrating the orchestra’s 60th year in 2012. In June of that same year, Keith conducted the orchestra during Queen Elizabeth II’s gala Diamond Jubilee Concert, which was broadcast around the world.

In October 2007, Keith succeeded David Effron as Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival. The Brevard Music Center (BMC) has established itself as one of the nation’s leading summer institutes for gifted young musicians, preparing them to perform great musical works at a high artistic level. His appointment solidifies an already special relationship with BMC, which he attended as a teenager for two summers (1974, 1975).

Keith concluded 11 seasons as Music Director of the Utah Symphony in 2009. He led that orchestra through the complete symphonic works of Gustav Mahler and brought them to Europe on tour for the first time in two decades. He stood at the front of that organization’s historic merger with the Utah Opera to create the first-ever joint administrative arts entity, the Utah Symphony and Opera. Since the merger, arts institutions nationally and internationally have looked to Keith as an example of an innovative thinker on and off the podium. Keith conducted three “Salute to the Symphony” television specials broadcast regionally, one of which received an Emmy award, and, in December 2001, he conducted the orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in a national PBS broadcast of Vaughan Williams’ oratorio Hodie. He led the Utah Symphony during Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and conducted two programs for the 2002 Olympic Arts Festival. Under Keith’s baton, the Utah Symphony released its first recording in two decades, Symphonic Dances, in April 2006.

Keith Lockhart has conducted nearly every major orchestra in North America, as well as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Vienna Radio Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, the New Japan Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In October 2012, he made his London Philharmonic debut in Royal Albert Hall. In the opera pit, Keith has conducted productions with the Atlanta Opera, Washington Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Utah Opera.

Keith served as Music Director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra for seven years, completing his tenure in 1999. Under his leadership, the orchestra doubled its number of performances, released recordings, and developed a reputation for innovative and accessible programming. Keith also served as Associate Conductor of both the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra from 1990 to 1995.

Born in Poughkeepsie, NY, he began his musical studies on piano at the age of 7, and holds degrees from Furman University and Carnegie Mellon University; Keith also holds honorary doctorates from the Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Northeastern University, Furman University, and Carnegie Mellon University, among others. He was the 2006 recipient of the Bob Hope Patriot Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and was a recipient of the 2017 Commonwealth Award, Massachusetts’ highest cultural honor.

Amaryn Olmeda Violin

Winner of first prize and the audience choice award at the 24th Annual Sphinx Competition, violinist Amaryn Olmeda is a rising star sought after for her bold and expressive performances as a soloist and collaborator. Violinist.com says of Olmeda, “…her commanding stage presence, infallible technique, and interpretive ability already rival that of international concert stage veterans.”

Highlights of 2024-2025 include season-opening concerts in debut with the Boulder Philharmonic and the Alabama Symphony, as well as debut performances with the Charlotte Symphony, Albany Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra. Olmeda will also debut in recital at the Kravis Center’s Young Artists Classical Series in West Palm Beach, FL and the University of Florida Performing Arts in Gainesville, FL.

Olmeda made her Lincoln Center debut during the 2024 Summer for the City Series. She made her Carnegie Hall solo debut on the Sphinx Virtuosi tour at the age of 14, garnering rave reviews. At 13, Olmeda was named the initial member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Opus 3 Artist’s Artist Apprentice Program.

Highlights of previous seasons include debuts as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra at their New Year’s Concert Series, earning her a nomination for the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards. Olmeda also performed in recital at the Bouchaine Young Artist Series at Festival Napa Valley as well as at the National Arts Club in New York City.

In 2023, Olmeda made her recording debut as the featured soloist of Carlos Simon’s Between Worlds on the Sphinx Virtuosi’s inaugural recording with Deutsche Grammophon. The Strad Magazine said of Olmeda’s performance, “…it receives an impressive reading here by the young musician [and] she shows why she has garnered the word 'prodigy’.”

Other career highlights include selection as an NPR From the Top Fellow, receiving the National Arts Club’s Herman and Mary Neuman Music Award, being named a Young Artist Soloist by the Seattle Symphony, and being featured in a solo performance with the Sacramento Philharmonic and VITA Academy in the video production, The Extraordinary Life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. In 2022 Olmeda performed for the San Francisco Conservatory Gala with pianist Yuja Wang. She has performed for numerous school and community outreach events including with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Auburn Symphony, and Oakland Symphony.

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, Olmeda currently studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with Miriam Fried. She previously studied with Ian Swensen at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Amaryn Olmeda performs on a violin made by J.B. Vuillaume in 1864.