How can anyone market one of the world's great orchestras in an era when orchestral music is growing ever less essential to the cultural fabric and the recording industry itself is ailing?
In a wide-ranging conversation with Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops, during the orchestra's recent three-day tour of Tokyo, it becomes clear why this crisp, persuasive gentleman was chosen to answer such questions. Equal parts artist, CEO and matinee idol, 42-year-old Lockhart exudes the smarts and the confidence to get the job done.
When he was hired by the Pops' parent company, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in 1995, the young conductor was faced with the challenge of filling the shoes of such titanic predecessors as Arthur Fiedler and John Williams.