Thomas Wikman

Thomas Wikman
Wikman Conducting the Church of the Ascension Choir, 2014
Background information
Born	(1942-08-29) 29 August 1942 Muskegon, Michigan
Genres	classical music baroque music Romantic music
Occupation(s)	Conducting keyboard artist
Instruments	conducting piano

Thomas Wikman (born August 29th, 1942, in Muskegon, Michigan is an American-born classical music conductor, vocal coach and keyboard artist. Wikman is the founder and Music Director (1971-2001) of a choral and orchestral ensemble, Music of the Baroque-Chicago, which rose to national prominence under his artistic leadership.

Early life and education

Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Wikman was given a rigorous musical education from an early age. He began composing and playing the piano at age five and was soon performing frequently in public. .At age seven, he began formal training with composer Carl Borgeson, studying composition, harmony, form and analysis, counterpoint, and orchestration. Other early teachers included John Wheeler for piano and Arnold Bourziel for organ.

Chicago's Music of the Baroque Founder and Music Director

Wikman founded Music of the Baroque, Chicago — a professional choral and orchestral ensemble –in 1971. He served as its Music Director for 30 years, from 1971 to 2001, and now holds the position of Conductor Laureate. During his time as Music Director, Wikman conducted vocal, choral, and orchestral works of the Baroque and Classical eras, focusing on Bach, Handel, Telemann, and Mozart. During this time, Wikman presented a score of pieces that were new to the Chicago area. Often creating his own performance editions, he produced the Chicago premiers of such works as Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (1610) by Claudio Monteverdi, The Day of Judgment by Georg Philipp Teleman and the oratorios Saul, Deborah, Athalia and Theodora by George F. Handel. Wikman also led the world premiere of Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart using the Neue Mozart - Ausgabe edition.

Emulating European ensembles, Wikman eschewed concert halls in favor of Chicago-area churches selected for their beauty and acoustics. In December 1987, Beginning in the early 1980s, Wikman developed a brass and choral concert experience based on his knowledge of historical performances in Renaissance Italian cathedrals such as St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Wikman reproduced the Venetian polychoral style in Chicago area churches which involved spatially separated vocal and brass choirs in alternation. The format of this concert was immensely popular and became a Christmas tradition in the Chicago area which has continue for at least 40 years.

Prior to Wikman’s creation of Music of the Baroque-Chicago, there was no authentic approach to Baroque music in Chicago. Through his rehearsals, Wikman taught the instrumentalists from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago baroque technique and made a unique sound that was new to the city. Wikman made Chicago into a "world-class classical music city" by creating a pre-classical musical experience on the level of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Wikman's work was foundational in creating "the premier exponent of 17th and 18th century musical performance."

Wikman led the ensemble in its New York debut, where he presented a sold-out performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. He also conducted the group at the Ravinia Festival and in performances at the White House.

In 1993 Wikman began performances of five Baroque-era Italian operas that were rarely heard in the United States at the time.

·        1993 - L’Orfeo (Orpheus) by Claudio Monteverdi,

·        1995 - L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppaea) by Claudio Monteverdi,

·        1996 - Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland) by Claudio Monteverdi,

·        1997 - La Calisto by Francesco Cavalli, and

·        1998 - Orontea by Antonio Cesti.

For three years, beginning in October of 1986, Music of the Baroque performances, exclusively led by Thomas Wikman, were syndicated by WFMT, Chicago’s fine arts radio station in an annual thirteen-week series. Each week a two-hour broadcast featuring Wikman’s productions and hosted by WFMT producer, Kerry Frumkin could be heard by radio listeners almost anywhere in the world through WFMT’s Fine Arts Network. This Network included most public radio stations in the United States as well as many radio stations around the world including those syndicated by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the European Broadcast Union, China, and Russia. A total of 39 two-hour programs featuring Music of the Baroque concerts with commentary by Thomas Wikman were included in these three syndicated series. Several other Wikman-led performances were broadcast by WFMT individually in addition to the three syndicated series. In a 1989 WFMT survey of radio station managers, the series received the highest scores of any WFMT program; syndicated programs were rated based on overall merit, musical quality, technical quality, production values, program host and audience appeal.

Music of the Baroque performances led by Wikman and broadcast by WFMT are contained in The Richard and Judith Mintel Archive of Recordings. This Archive is housed at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia; the recordings will be preserved for posterity. Another copy of the entire Mintel Archive is located at the Northwestern University Music Library in Evanston, Illinois. Wikman’s performances of Handel oratorios, the Bach Passions, Italian Baroque operas, liturgical music, and Mozart and Haydn’s symphonies are included in the Mintel Archive.

Other Conducting Work

Thomas Wikman conducting the choir at The Church of the Ascension, Chicago, in 2013.

From 1974 to 1991, Wikman performed large-scale Romantic and 20th-century repertoire with two groups: the Elgin Choral Union (now the Elgin Master Chorale) and the New Oratorio Singers (now Chicago Master Singers), both of which he founded. He explored Renaissance repertoire with his two small professional ensembles: the New Court Singers and The Tutor Singers. He made his debut with the Houston Symphony in December 1999, conducting four performances of Handel's Messiah.

Wikman was also the Choirmaster of the Church of the Ascension, Chicago from 1984 to 2015. He conducted the professional choir in more than 1700 worship services, including masterpieces from the past thousand years. Liturgical music performed included pieces by Tomas Luis de Victoria, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. At solemn high mass, Wikman would lead the men of the choir in chanting the traditional Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, and Communion of the Roman Gradual.

Many performances led by Wikman and broadcast by WFMT are contained in The Richard and Judith Mintel Archive of Recordings. This Archive is housed at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia; the recordings will be preserved for posterity. Another copy of the entire Mintel Archive is located at the Northwestern University Music Library in Evanston, Illinois. Wikman’s performances of Handel oratorios, the Bach Passions, Italian Baroque operas, liturgical music, and Mozart and Haydn's symphonies are included in the Archive.

In May 2002, Wikman was awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts Degree (Honoris Causa) from the University of Illinois at Chicago for “making an incomparable contribution to the musical life of Chicago.”

Career as a vocal coach

Wikman maintained a voice studio, producing many professional singers who performed roles at the Metropolitan and Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and New York City Opera as well as the major European Houses including La Scala, Bayreuth, Vienna, and Berlin. Wikman sought to locate, train, and feature the best singers in the Chicago area and beyond, an endeavor he continued to pursue his entire career. He strove for “….the highest standards of authentic bel canto singing.” Singers, taught by Wikman include, Richard Versalle, Isola Jones, Judith Nelson, Linda Mabbs, Karen Brunssen, William Wahman, and Barbara Pearson. Many of Chicago’s professional vocalists would consider their singing careers to be foundationally created by Wikman. Wikman also promoted the careers of other vocalists by casting and then coaching them in operatic roles. These vocalists included Gloria Banditelli, Simon Estes, and Anthony Rolfe Johnson.

Organist and Keyboard Artist

Wikman playing the Reneker Organ in Graham Taylor Hall on the University of Chicago Campus in 2003.

An active organist who has played over 650 recitals, Wikman was the Artistic Director of the Paul Manz Organ series for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago from 2008 to 2014. From 1984 to 1991, he was the organist and Artist in Residence at the Chicago Theological Seminary, where he played weekly recitals on the Reneker Organ built by Karl Wilhelm. Wikman has toured Europe seven times as an organist playing recitals in France, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark, and Italy. Highlights include organ recitals at The Frari Basilica in Venice; Saint-Sulpice, Paris; and The Royal Castle at Hillerod, Denmark.

Also, Wikman made numerous appearances on the Flentrop organ at the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard University. He accompanied the Chicago Symphony Brass Ensemble on tour as an organist and has performed on the organ at the Grand Teton Music Festival and Ravinia Festival.

Discography

• 1981: Brass and Choral Music
• 1982: Brass and Choral Music for Christmastide
• 1982: Terpsichore Danserye
• 1983: Monteverdi’s Vespers of The Blessed Virgin (1610)
• 1985: Von Himmel Hoch
• 1990: Mozart’s Great Mass in C Major
• 1995 Telemann’s Day of Judgement
• 1997: Music for Baroque Trumpet: With Clarion Voice

Bibliography

• "Thomas Wikman". Discogs. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
• "Thomas Wikman, Conductor and Keyboard Artist". The Richard and Judith Mintel Archive of Recordings. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
• Studs Terkel Archive: June 30, 1982. - Studs interview with Thomas Wikman about the historical details of the rise of Baroque music. Wikman describes his work and members of his group, Music of the Baroque. Wikman describes how acoustics play a role in his performances. Studs explores Wikman’s childhood and influences. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
• Studs Terkel Archive April 22, 1976.[1] - Studs interview with Thomas Wikman describing his work and members of his group, Music of the Baroque.
• Artist Profile White Lakes Music Festival Retrieved August 23, 2021
• Lutheran School of Theology Organ Series Retrieved June 13, 2021
• WFMT Radio Broadcast: A Celebration of 50 years
• The Classical Review: At 40 Music of the Baroque Sees a bright Future
• Historical news/reviews-The Richard and Judith Mintel Archive of Recordings

This article "Thomas Wikman" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Thomas Wikman. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Nayeem Arafat
• Martin Dupont
• Nay Porttela
• Bill Appleberry
• Luiza Zan
• Andrew Salgado (singer)
• Anand Vyas

---