Thomas Wikman, Doctor of Fine Arts
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Mr. Wikman was given a rigorous private musical education from an early age. He began composing and playing the piano at age five, and was soon performing frequently in public. At seven he began formal training with composer Carl Borgeson, studying composition, harmony, form and analysis, counterpoint and orchestration. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, he was active in both amateur and professional circles as a composer, pianist, trombonist, organist and church choir director.
As a young man in Chicago he studied composition and theoretical subjects, primarily with Leo Sowerby and also with Stella Roberts, Jeanne Boyd and Irwin Fischer. He studied organ and Gregorian chant with Benjamin Hadley and others; and voice with Don Murray and Norman Gulbrandsen.
In 1987, Wikman made a critically-acclaimed debut at Lincoln Center, conducting a sold-out performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio.
In 1993 he appeared as both organist and conductor in the inaugural concert for the newly restored Library of Congress. Opening the Vatican's "Rome Reborn" exhibit, Wikman's program of liturgical music was presented before an audience of cardinals and other church dignitaries.
In 2002 he was awarded a Doctorate of Fine Arts by the University of Illinois at Chicago for "making an incomparable contribution to the musical life of Chicago".
CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION CHOIRMASTER Thomas Wikman has had an extensive career as a choral and orchestral conductor, voice teacher and organist. He has conducted hundreds of concerts in repertoire from the Renaissance to the 20th century, specializing in the large choral masterpieces of the 17th through 19th centuries. His discography includes numerous CD’s among them a critically acclaimed Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (1610) by Claudio Monteverdi.
As Choirmaster of Church of the Ascension since 1984, Wikman has conducted the professional choir in more than 1700 worship services replete with masterpieces from the year 1000 A.D. to the present, including pieces by Orlando di Lasso, de Victoria, Palestrina, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Haydn, Liszt, Brahms, Herbert Howells, Leo Sowerby and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Wikman is founder and conductor Laureate of Chicago’s Music of the Baroque; He served as Music Director of that organization for 30 years during which the group specialized in the large choral works of J. S. Bach (B Minor Mass, Matthew and John Passions, Christmas Oratorio, etc.) and also mounted many revivals of major Handel oratorios and operas (Saul, Jephtha, Athalia, Deborah, Semele, Hercules, Samson, etc.). Wikman also performed large-scale romantic and 20th-century repertoire with two groups: The Elgin Choral Union and The New Oratorio Singers (which he also founded) and he explored smaller works conducting The Tudor Singers and The New Court Singers. He has appeared as conductor, organist and harpsichordist with the Ravinia and Grand Teton Music Festivals.
In May 2002, The University of Illinois at Chicago awarded Wikman the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts (Honoris Causa) for “…making an incomparable contribution to the musical life of Chicago.”
Wikman maintains a voice studio producing students who have performed roles at the Metropolitan and Chicago Lyric Operas as well as the major European Houses including LaScala, Bayreuth, Vienna and Berlin.
He is also an active organist who has played over 600 recitals. Wikman currently is the Artistic Director of the Paul Manz Organ series for the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and he was the organist and Artist-in-Residence at the Chicago Theological Seminary where he played weekly recitals. He has toured Europe seven times as an organist playing recitals in France, Germany, Switzerland. Hungary, Denmark and Italy. Highlights include recitals at The Friars' Basilica in Venice; Saint-Sulpice, Paris; and The Royal Castle at Hillerod, Denmark.
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Mr. Wikman was given a rigorous private musical education from an early age. He began composing and playing the piano at age five, and was soon performing frequently in public. At seven he began formal training with composer Carl Borgeson, studying composition, harmony, form and analysis, counterpoint and orchestration. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, he was active in both amateur and professional circles as a composer, pianist, trombonist, organist and church choir director.
As a young man in Chicago he studied composition and theoretical subjects, primarily with Leo Sowerby and also with Stella Roberts, Jeanne Boyd and Irwin Fischer. He studied organ and Gregorian chant with Benjamin Hadley and others; and voice with Don Murray and Norman Gulbrandsen.
In 1987, Wikman made a critically-acclaimed debut at Lincoln Center, conducting a sold-out performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio.
In 1993 he appeared as both organist and conductor in the inaugural concert for the newly restored Library of Congress. Opening the Vatican's "Rome Reborn" exhibit, Wikman's program of liturgical music was presented before an audience of cardinals and other church dignitaries.
In 2002 he was awarded a Doctorate of Fine Arts by the University of Illinois at Chicago for "making an incomparable contribution to the musical life of Chicago".
CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION CHOIRMASTER Thomas Wikman has had an extensive career as a choral and orchestral conductor, voice teacher and organist. He has conducted hundreds of concerts in repertoire from the Renaissance to the 20th century, specializing in the large choral masterpieces of the 17th through 19th centuries. His discography includes numerous CD’s among them a critically acclaimed Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (1610) by Claudio Monteverdi.
As Choirmaster of Church of the Ascension since 1984, Wikman has conducted the professional choir in more than 1700 worship services replete with masterpieces from the year 1000 A.D. to the present, including pieces by Orlando di Lasso, de Victoria, Palestrina, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Haydn, Liszt, Brahms, Herbert Howells, Leo Sowerby and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Wikman is founder and conductor Laureate of Chicago’s Music of the Baroque; He served as Music Director of that organization for 30 years during which the group specialized in the large choral works of J. S. Bach (B Minor Mass, Matthew and John Passions, Christmas Oratorio, etc.) and also mounted many revivals of major Handel oratorios and operas (Saul, Jephtha, Athalia, Deborah, Semele, Hercules, Samson, etc.). Wikman also performed large-scale romantic and 20th-century repertoire with two groups: The Elgin Choral Union and The New Oratorio Singers (which he also founded) and he explored smaller works conducting The Tudor Singers and The New Court Singers. He has appeared as conductor, organist and harpsichordist with the Ravinia and Grand Teton Music Festivals.
In May 2002, The University of Illinois at Chicago awarded Wikman the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts (Honoris Causa) for “…making an incomparable contribution to the musical life of Chicago.”
Wikman maintains a voice studio producing students who have performed roles at the Metropolitan and Chicago Lyric Operas as well as the major European Houses including LaScala, Bayreuth, Vienna and Berlin.
He is also an active organist who has played over 600 recitals. Wikman currently is the Artistic Director of the Paul Manz Organ series for the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and he was the organist and Artist-in-Residence at the Chicago Theological Seminary where he played weekly recitals. He has toured Europe seven times as an organist playing recitals in France, Germany, Switzerland. Hungary, Denmark and Italy. Highlights include recitals at The Friars' Basilica in Venice; Saint-Sulpice, Paris; and The Royal Castle at Hillerod, Denmark.