| Biography | Keith Lockhart (born November 7, 1959, Poughkeepsie, New York), is an American orchestral conductor.
Lockhart began his musical studies with piano lessons from Gwen Stevens at age seven. He holds degrees from Furman University and Carnegie Mellon University, as well as the honorary Doctor of Music degree from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. He studied conducting at the Brevard Music Center.
He is an alumnus of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national men's music fraternity. Lockhart became a Sinfonian at Furman University, joining the Gamma Eta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1978.
Lockhart was a conducting fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute. For 5 years, he served as an associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops. He was music director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra from 1992 to 1999.
Lockhart became the 20th Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1995. In addition to regular in Symphony Hall, national and overseas tours, Fourth of July concerts on Boston's Esplanade, and performances at Carnegie Hall, he conducted the Boston Pops in 2002 in the pre-game show of Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. This marked the first time a symphony orchestra was featured in performance during a Super Bowl. The Boston Pops has released eight albums on RCA Victor with Lockhart: Runnin' Wild: The Boston Pops Play Glenn Miller, American Visions, The Celtic Album, Holiday Pops, A Splash of Pops, Encore!, The Latin Album, and My Favorite Things - A Richard Rodgers Celebration.
From 1998 to 2009, Lockhart was Music Director of the Utah Symphony. He led the Utah Symphony as part of the opening exercises of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. On October 1, 2007, Lockhart assumed artistic leadership of the Brevard Music Center, succeeding David Effron.
In August 2010, the BBC Concert Orchestra announced the appointment of Lockhart as its seventh principal conductor, with immediate effect.
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