Into it: Keith Lockhart

Why the conductor for the Boston Pops Orchestra avoids music during his downtime.

June 29, 2007

... Reading?

The last book I actually finished was a Paulo Coelho novel, 'The Zahir.' It's an exploration of what it means to find a true-love relationship and then what it means to be able to stay in that. I love the works of Milan Kundera. I'm a huge fan of his writing. I find it, even in translation, to be incredibly poetic and immensely thought provoking.

... Watching?

A friend turned me on to Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel, which I find absolutely fascinating. It's about people fishing for king crab off the Alaskan coast. It's riveting – like watching a great drama.

... Listening to?

I listen to so much music for preparation that I rarely listen to music for recreation. What I'm trying to get on top of is our collaborative artists for the Edgefest [a series that unites the orchestra and popular musicians]. So I'm listening to Cowboy Junkies and M Ward and friends, who are two headliner acts for Edgefest. As a result of working with Ben Folds, I picked up a lot of his albums, especially his post-Ben Folds Five CDs. I slowly make up for my occasional lack of immersion in pop culture. (Not Pops culture!)

The Boston Pops's July 4th concert on the Esplanade, featuring John Mellencamp, is broadcast live at 10 p.m. (ET) on CBS.