Beckemeyer joins the IU Oratorio Chorus as a professional chorister for their performance of Brahms’ choral-orchestral Schicksalied, presented with the Concert Orchestra, conducted by IU professor Thomas Wilkins, chorus prepared by Betsy Burleigh

Repertoire:

Verdi: Overture to “La forza del destino” (1862)
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”), Op. 29 (1916)
Brahms: Schicksalslied for chorus and orchestra, Op. 54 (1871)

Conductor Bio:

Thomas Wilkins is Henry A. Upper Chair of Orchestral Conducting and professor of music in orchestral conducting and at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He is also music director of the Omaha Symphony through the 2020-21 season, a position he has held since 2005. In addition, he is principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and holds the Germeshausen Family and Youth Concert Conductor Chair with the Boston Symphony. Past positions have included resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony and Florida Orchestra (Tampa Bay) and associate conductor of the Richmond (Virginia) Symphony. He also has served on the music faculties of North Park University (Chicago), the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Devoted to promoting a life-long enthusiasm for music, Wilkins brings energy and commitment to audiences of all ages. He is hailed as a master at communicating and connecting with audiences. Following his highly successful first season with the Boston Symphony, theBoston Globe named him among the Best People and Ideas of 2011. In 2014, Wilkins received the prestigious Outstanding Artist award at the Nebraska Governor’s Arts Awards, for his significant contribution to music in the state. Wilkins has led orchestras throughout the United States, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Utah Symphony, and the National Symphony, to name a few. His commitment to community has been demonstrated by his participation on several boards of directors, including the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Charles Drew Health Center in Omaha, and Center Against Spouse Abuse in Tampa Bay, among others. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Wilkins is a graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He resides with his wife Sheri-Lee in Omaha and are the proud parents of twin daughters, Erica and Nicole.