Unites Community
The Cypress POPS Orchestra
Music Director: Kirk Wilke
Remember: An American Mosaic
Summer 2027
Houston
Program
- Leonard Bernstein – Overture to Candide
- Howard Hanson – Symphony No. 2 “The Romantic”
- Aaron Copland – Lincoln Portrait
- John Williams – E.T. Adventures on Earth
The concert will conclude with a unique and reflective encore, to be revealed only during the performance.
At its core, this concert event celebrates Unity and Love as its guiding pillars.
Meet The Conductor
Kirk Wilke began his musical studies at the age of three on the piano and on the trumpet at five. Mr. Wilke has a Bachelors of Music Education from the Eastman School of Music with an emphasis in trumpet performance. In the 1990s, Mr. Wilke began his conducting career, first earning Master of Music in Conducting from George Mason University and then an Artist Diploma in Conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Principal teachers include Dick Jones (Eastman), Anthony Maiello (George Mason), Carl Topilow and Louis Lane at (Cleveland Institute of Music). He has also studied trumpet performance at McGill University with the principal trumpet of the Montreal Symphony, Jim Thompson.
In 1986, he became the Director of Bands at McDonough High School in Pomfret, Maryland, where he directed the marching band, jazz band, and several school musicals. In 1989, he joined The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps in Fort Myer, Virginia. He then began the development of a new one valve bugle in 1992 and began composing for the ensemble, where his music is still being performed today.
In 1999 he was named the Music Director of the Washington Symphony Orchestra and, in 2000, he was a founding member and Music Director of the Rappahannock POPS Orchestra, a position he held for over 15 years. In 2001, he was awarded a fellowship to the Aspen School of Music to study conducting, where he worked with David Zinmann, Murray Sidlin, and other prominent orchestral and opera conductors. Shortly thereafter, he gained international recognition conducting the Shangdong Symphony Orchestra in China to critical acclaim. Other conducting appearances include the Fredericksburg Festival of the Arts and the Capital Chamber Orchestra. Currently Mr. Wilke is living in Houston and is the founder and Music Director of the Cypress Chamber Orchestra. He is the former conductor of the Lone Star College Cy-Fair orchestra and has also been seen as guest conductor of the Woodlands Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Wilke has been an avid teacher for over 44 years and continues to teach a private piano studio. His students have frequently won awards at local and regional competitions in the Washington, D.C. area. Outside of music, he is an avid skier and has been a ski instructor at Whitetail Resort for the four years before covid.