Wow. If people thought the Utah Symphony meant a lot of time in the air... The BBC reports/announces that Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart has been named the seventh principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra "ahead of his Proms debut this month." Lockhart will continue to hold the baton at the Boston Pops, BBC says. Having conducted the orchestra in the past, Lockhart told BBC News he was "honoured to be embarking on a more formal relationship." (I'm guessing he said honored, but go figure.) The orchestra's concerts and "unrivalled role on BBC TV and Radio... provide an immense opportunity for audience connection at the most meaningful level," Lockhart is quoted as saying.
Lockhart will appear with the BBC Concert Orchestra at an Aug. 30 concert of British and American music at "Proms," the band's annual summer concert series, at Royal Albert Hall. The program includes Bernstein and Gershwin but - shockingly - no John Williams. Oh, wait... "Hook: A Flight to Neverland!"
The orchestra also has a Nov. 4 Bay State date booked as part of a U.S. tour - at Mechanics Hall in Worcester.
Wikipedia says the concert orchestra is the BBC's "most populist ensemble, playing a mixture of classical music, light music and popular numbers." Sound familiar? The orchestra's own website notes, "They also provide the mesmerising soundtracks for many of the BBC's nature programmes." And maybe Edgefest has a future: Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead was named the orchestra's composer in residence in 2004.
The orchestra site says of Lockhart: "His formidable experience in broad repertoire, allied with his love of all things British make him perfectly positioned to lead the BBC Concert Orchestra through to its 60th year in 2012 and beyond."
Lockhart became the twentieth conductor of the Boston Pops in 1995, and was musical director of the Utah Symphony 1998-2009. Conductors traditionally hold multiple gigs like this, but the cross-pond nature of the assignment might make it a little more taxing than the arrangement James Levine has conducting both the BSO and the Met. And that situation has become controversial due to Levine's health issues. No question it's a high-profile assignment for Lockhart, though, and he is considerably younger and healthier than Levine. So let's all say congrats...
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