Interview: Thomas Wilkins on Two Decades of Broadway at the Hollywood Bowl

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Legendary conductor talks about a lifetime of being uplifted by music

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I cannot wait for the opening night of the Hollywood Bowl's summer season, The Best of Broadway, an extravaganza with dancers and fireworks that includes numerous Tony winners like Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry and Hollywood stars like Halle Bailey, on Saturday, June 20th.

I talk with legendary conductor Thomas Wilkins, who has worked with the Hollywood Bowl for over twenty years, in addition to a truly staggering, award-winning career conducting and guest conducting a who’s who’s list of orchestras like Detroit Syphony, Omaha Sympony, Florida Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, 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., at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, Philadelphia Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra.

When you are in LA, what are your personal favorite places in Los Angeles to listen to music?

I thought you were going to ask my favorite places to go, and I was going to say In-N-Out.[laughter]

The Bowl, or Disney Hall.

What makes the Hollywood Bowl feel unique to you as a conductor, as an artist, when you're working there?

I have never not had the sensation that I can't believe I'm standing here working at the Hollywood Bowl. It's larger than life. We have a motto at the Bowl. You can go to a concert anywhere, but when you come to the Hollywood Bowl, we want you to have two thoughts: one is I'm really glad I didn't miss this; and two, I can only see this at the Hollywood Bowl.

It is such an iconic space.

Sometimes I'll see a picture of the Hollywood Bowl in an article I'm reading, or a flash of it on television or something, and I pinch myself. Early on, I got to town early for my first rehearsal, and for the first time I sat in the seats. I was watching the concert, looking around at how massive the space is, and yet how close everybody is. I thought to myself, holy cow, this is a really cool place, I should be more nervous!

The Bowl seats thousands of people and yet it feels like you're in someone's living room. It's magical. It automatically creates a feeling of community and belonging that I am really blessed to be a part of.

Are there any pieces for the lineup of the opening night that you're most excited about conducting?

I was getting ready for this concert, I’m going through the set list, and first of all, There's No Business Like Show Business, I mean, c'mon! The Music of the Night, Part of Your World — one of the things that we wanted to do with this program is make sure that you didn't have to be a Broadway aficionado to know the tune. And we're doing something for Mamma Mia, a medley, and I'm sitting there marking my score and I'm thinking, dude, you know every one of these songs! It's just every time you turn the page, there's a different delightful musical taste to experience on this program.

Are there any particular musicals that really connect with you personally?

Well, it's gonna sound crazy, but The Music Man.

I love the Music Man.

I was in junior high school, that's what we called it in those days, and I was in band. A touring production of The Music Man smartly invited local bands to be in the final scene on stage. I was in the final scene, so it holds a personal meaning for me. I can't even come up with just one favorite musical, to tell you the truth, but I think The Music Man and The Sound of Music are at the top of the list.

You were in band, and you played tuba, right?

We don't need to tell people that. [laughter]

Did your experience in band shape some of your feelings about music, about conducting?

Certainly, my conducting, because I was a student conductor of my high school band. I've wanted to be a conductor since I was eight years old. When we were in concert season, I conducted every single day. That was a valuable gift to a young kid who was trying to pursue a dream. Getting that experience in front of musicians and learning to lead.

I grew up in a housing project, single parent, welfare, the whole nine yards. When you grow up in the hood, there's not a whole lot of options for things to do, especially in those days. When I talk to adults about the value of the arts, I think about that. You have all these critical life choices you have to make as a kid.

All those critical life choices were made by default for me, because I had fallen in love with music. What do I do when there's free time? I'm hanging out at the library, because that's where all the classical albums are. And do I dream of going to college? Those questions were already answered. So I had a peer group, and we all shared the same love. You don't all become professional musicians, even though quite a few of the guys I grew up with are professional musicians now. But you have a life together. There is an accountability too in the process, because you help prevent each other from doing stupid stuff as a young kid, or at least, more stupid stuff, the wrong stupid stuff.

You've been conducting for a long time. What's remained constant for you in your approach when you work with conducting musicians, and what has changed in your approach to conducting, or how you interact with musicians?

That's a great question. When I teach conducting to young conductors all the time, I say, remember first and foremost that we are leaders of men and women who happen to be musicians, not the other way around. The first thing that you have to do is respect their humanity.

Leaders invite people to be a part of something that is larger than we are as individuals. Leaders invite people to use something larger than we are to become better versions of ourselves, to believe something better about ourselves.

One of my standing mottos is: I want the best from the most and the most from the least. You're not going to get the same from everybody, especially in a student ensemble. But you want players to know that you believe in them as human beings.

My approach from the podium is less about instruction and more about invitation.

Are there common pieces in the repertoire where you feel like your take on it, or what you feel like the heart or the soul or the mood of the piece is, is different from a lot of the common takes that you hear?

No comment. [laughter]

I experienced this a lot after George Floyd, when all of a sudden everybody wanted to do repertoire by underrepresented composers. My biggest concern, and you hear me choosing my words carefully here, is making sure that someone understands the world that they're living in with this music. And not just trying to check a box.

The reality is, this applies to everything that we do. Inspired by some of my friends who are musicians, I went back as a grown-up to read some of the literature from high school and college that I blew off. I remember reading Dostoevsky the first time, and it made me think of the musical gestures in Tchaikovsky's music differently. I was reading about the Age of Enlightenment, and the literature from the Age of Enlightenment, and now all of a sudden I am thinking differently about Mozart.

What was the music that you grew up listening to, played in your house, or that your friends listened to? Does it inspire you in any particular way?

It was Sam Cooke , Mighty Clouds of Joy, lots of gospel played in my house.

When my mother told me she thought I was old enough to walk downtown to the public library by myself without her going with me, that was freedom. All the classical music was at the library. You would pick the album off the shelf, take it to the lady behind the glass, she would give you a set of headphones while you would sit down and listen. When that happened, I mean, the whole world expanded exponentially for me.

What were the records that the classical records in the library that you listened to the most?

Three things: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Holst's Planets, Mahler's Symphony No 1.

I read that Mahler is one of your favorite composers.

Well, from a personal standpoint, when I'm involved in his music, he knows every fiber of my being. People either love Mahler or they don't. I think the reason is that he manages to expose our vulnerabilities when we listen to his music. Some people are just uncomfortable with that, and that's just my theory, because that's the way I am sometimes. The D flat major section in the last moment of Mahler's first symphony, I have to warn people, I say I'm sorry, I may lose it here, but just keep going.

I often say that our product vanishes the moment that we create it, but in reality, I think in our heads and in our hearts it lives on long afterwards.

I know you do a lot of work with youth and education. What are your thoughts about inspiring children and younger people to get excited about classical music?

I think the good thing is that the music can take care of itself. For me, it's all about how it's presented and making sure that they understand, especially when I'm talking to young kids, that I'm actually their peer talking, I'm telling them the cool things that I discovered about the music. There's a reason why that music still exists and we still listen to it. It inherently has the qualities to allow it to withstand the test of time.

When I use analogies that are contemporary to them, they respond differently, like if I say the sound of the bassoon sounds like the sound of your mother's voice when she calls you by all three names.

In fact, in Detroit, I was there for so long that I had kids who came to my young people's concerts in fourth or fifth grade, and then when they would come to my subscription concerts, they'd want to come to the green room, to show me that they had graduated to concerts. What a treat for me.

Composers are never trying to impress us with how smart they are. Music comes alongside us, to help us navigate living. Music walks alongside us, on our journey, inspiring us to believe something better about ourselves at the end of the day.

Opening Night at the Bowl: The Best of Broadway starts the Hollywood Bowl's season on June 20th at 8pm. For Tickets and more information, click on the button below:

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/Interview-Thomas-Wilkins-of-OPENING-NIGHT-AT-THE-BOWL-THE-BEST-OF-BROADWAY-at-Hollywood-Bowl-20260617)._