He is an orchestral conductor born in Poughkeepsie, New York, who began piano lessons when he was seven and attended the Furman University and Carnegie Mellon University, getting his first conducting experience in the Brevard Music Center. From there he became Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber and Cincinnati Pops orchestras.
He took over the position of Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra from John Williams in 1995 and has since conducted more than 900 concerts in the United States and many international countries. He was the conductor for the Boston Pops when they led the Super Bowl XXXVI pre-game show in 2002 which was the first time an orchestra had been featured.
As a guest conductor he has worked with all the major American symphony orchestras and he was also the music director of Utah Symphony from 1998 and left the position in the 2008-2009 season. He took over the position of artistic director and conductor of the Brevard Music Center in October 2007 and became the Principal Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2010, leaving at the end of 2017.
Boston Pops Orchestra recordings
With Voices Raised (Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty)
Conductor – Keith Lockhart
Tenor – Jason Danieley
RCA 63516 (CD: A Splash of Pops)
Cincinnati Sinfonietta recordings
Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson)
Telarc 83315 (CD: Christmas Songs)
Conductor – Keith Lockhart
Vocals – Mel Torme
Sources:
- http://www.keithlockhart.com/index.cfm/pk/content/pid/400036
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Lockhart