BWW Interviews: Holiday Concerts with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops

The month of December brings with it numerous traditions:  colored lights, tinsel, greeting cards,  fruitcakes, and visits from friends we may not have seen in a while.  Such is the case with Keith Lockhart’s annual check-in with Broadway World.  At this point it wouldn’t be Christmas without hearing from the genial maestro of the world renowned Boston Pops. 

Perhaps the nicest news he had to impart is that he’s become a father again.  Young Christopher had just turned nine months old and he joins older brothers Edward Kellen and Aaron; all boys.  “Yes, I can’t seem to get out of that mode,” Lockhart comments. “I don’t think I’m going to keep trying, either.”

In addition to the Boston Pops, Lockhart is the principal conductor and artistic director of the BrevardMusicCenter and in 2010 was named principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra—something which keeps him visiting London quite regularly.  “We’re on tour with the BBC orchestra in the States in February, primarily in the Midwest in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana before heading to the West Coast.”  The BBC Orchestra doesn’t play in the New York area very often because “It’s a highly competitive market to get into,” he explains.  “It’s hard to get audiences because there are so many things going on in New York. It’s like playing in London.” His position with the BBC Orchestra had him conducting the orchestra for Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee Festivities.

Right now, though, Lockhart is preparing for the Boston Pops’ Holiday Season.  “We are right on the brink of the musical cliff, if you will,” Lockhart explains.  “We’ll be starting a grand total of 45 concerts, starting December 1^st in Storrs, Worcester, MA and then continuing down to the Tilles Center on Long Island on the afternoon of the 2^nd, rapidly followed another concert in Newark, NJ that evening.  Back home we open at the Hall on the 5^th  with a few concerts in Wooster, Manchester and Bridgeport, CT— a venue we haven’t performed in for about three years.”

“Our guests for the tour are an a cappella vocal group called Five by Design,” he continues, “They’ve played with orchestras all over the country but we’ve never worked with them.  We’ve talked to them for years and finally this seemed like the right time.  They had a good and engaging Christmas show and they’ll be joining us for the whole gamut of things from ‘O Come o Come Emmanuel’ and ‘The Carol of the Bells’ on one end to “Let it Snow’ and ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’ on the other.  They will also be doing the honors for narrating and singing our Boston Pops version of ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’. It’ll be great fun.”

In Boston’s beautiful Symphony Hall, the program will be somewhat different.  “First off,” Lockhart explains, “we have the Tanglewood Festival Chorus joining us.  They’re a first-rate group, but we can’t take them on tour with us because of the logistics involved with a chorus that size.  In the Symphony Hall programs we’ll be joined by  baritone James Demler who’ll be singing Ralph Vaughn Williams’ ‘Fantasia on Christmas Carols’ with us and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.  Our special guest for our big corporate fundraiser called Presidents at Pops is Vanessa Williams and that’ll be great, too.  Obviously, though, it can’t happen thirty eight times within the month.  So it’ll be basically two and a half programs floating around over the course of December.” 

Keith Lockhart will conduct almost every concert except for five in the Hall.  “Those are the ones when we’re out on the road and we’re having simultaneous performances in the Hall.  I can’t be two places at once, otherwise I’d do all of them.” Lockhart says.  “So I’m conducting forty concerts in the span of a month.”