Kelly: Music lifted Wilkins

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The conductor of the Omaha Symphony jokes that his talent for flapping his arms came from his father — who waved his arms to help pilots park commercial airliners.

Maestro Thomas Wilkins spends a lot of time at airports, but not on the tarmac. Though Omaha is home, he flies around the country often, much in demand to conduct other symphonies.

This week he led the Philadelphia Orchestra in a Martin Luther King Day tribute. He is the principal guest conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. And he recently became the first African-American conductor in the 131-year history of the Boston Symphony, where he leads youth and family concerts.

In naming Wilkins one of "Boston's Best People and Ideas of 2011," the Boston Globe called him gregarious and inspiring, "a burst of fresh energy at graying Symphony Hall. ... In other words, your grandfather's conductor he is not."

I snagged him for a half-hour Wednesday as he prepared to rehearse with the Omaha Symphony for Sunday's family concert, "The Thrill of the Orchestra."

He recalled his first orchestral thrill, a class field trip to hear the Norfolk, Va., symphony when he was 8.

Thomas Wilkins

"I think back to it all the time," Wilkins said. "I now find myself in front of some of the world's greatest orchestras, and I juxtapose that to my beginnings. It allows me to stay humble and always stay grateful, and it also informs my work ethic."

Thomas grew up in a Norfolk housing project known for drug deals and robberies, but after hearing the local symphony he signed up for violin lessons in public school. Years later, he earned a master's degree in conducting from Boston's New England Conservatory.

After several years as resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony, he took the top musical job at the Omaha Symphony in 2005 — the year that the $100 million Holland Performing Arts Center opened, paid for mainly by private donations.

The Holland Center has been hailed for its beauty and acoustics. Wilkins loves showing it off to visiting professionals.

"When friends come to town from Los Angeles, Boston or wherever, they walk on that stage for the first time, look around and go, 'Holy smokes!' I just give a nice, proud smile and say, 'Yeah. ... I know.'"

Wilkins conducts the symphony's classical "masterworks," but also enjoys family concerts. Sunday's 2 p.m. event at the Holland is affordable — $9.75 for adults and $7 for children 12 and under if purchased in advance; $3 more at the door. The box office number is 402-342-3560.

(At 7 p.m. Saturday, Ernest Richardson will conduct the symphony in "Mysterioso," featuring an illusionist and a comedian.)

Wilkins said he never talks down to children, and tells them the best thing they can bring to the concert hall is their imagination. His goal is to "raise a new generation of concertgoers — not because they are ticket-buyers, but because they love music."

He and his musicians appear often in the community — teaching, playing or speaking. He counsels young people: "Wishing without working only leads to disappointment."

He and his wife, Sheri-Lee, have twin daughters, Nichole and Erica, musicians who graduated last year from Westside High School and now attend separate colleges in Chicago.

The maestro said he enjoys chatting with people around Omaha when he's dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, rather than his formal attire.

"I live a normal life; all my musicians do," he said. "I know practically everybody who works at the grocery where I shop. The checkout guy at Lowe's, we talk all the time. One day he came up to me and said, 'Hey, I know who you are!' I just said, 'Well, that's where I work.'"

Wilkins' work is to conduct talented musicians, but he said his first job is always to keep the audience in mind. True, he turns his back on us — but he knows that we are the reason he is up there flapping his arms.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1132, michael.kelly@owh.com

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