PSO welcomes guest conductor Thomas Wilkins for Sunday Classical concert

The Portland Symphony Orchestra welcomes Thomas Wilkins, principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, as guest conductor for a Sunday Classical concert at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20, at Merrill Auditorium in Portland.

The matinee performance features the vibrant musical world of London, pre-World War I with performances of A Shropshire Lad, Rhapsody for Orchestra by George Butterworth, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha Ballet Suite Opus 82a, inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha, and Edward Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma), Op. 36.

Guest conductor Thomas Wilkins also holds the Germeshausen Family and Youth Concert Conductor Chair with the Boston Symphony and is music director laureate of the Omaha Symphony. He was the longest-serving music director in the organization’s 100-plus year history, from 2005 to 2021.

Founded in 1923, the Portland Symphony Orchestra is one of the largest performing arts organizations in Maine and is widely regarded as one of the top symphony orchestras of its size in the country. Made up of more than 80 professional musicians, the PSO is renowned for its critically acclaimed performances and broad community engagement. The Symphony’s mission is to serve its community by enriching lives through music. For more information, visit portlandsymphony.org.