Gary Wilkes

Gary Wilkes, Conductor
CSO Youth Symphony

Gary Wilkes is a native Chattanoogan and conductor of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony. During his high school years at East Ridge, he was a bassoonist with the Chattanooga Youth Orchestra under the direction of Jay Craven. Gary attended the University of Tennessee where he earned his Bachelor of Music Education Degree and studied conducting with David Van Vactor, Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony. After graduation, he attended Southern Methodist University, where he received his Master’s Degree in Bassoon Performance and Conducting. While at S.M.U., he studied conducting with James Rives-Jones, Associate Conductor with the Dallas Symphony.

During his tenure as music director and conductor, the CSOYO has grown to two full orchestras and and two string orchestras with membership reaching well over 200 student musicians.

Gary is an active adjudicator and clinician in the Southwestern and Southeastern United States. Over the past twenty-five years, he has taught at schools in Texas and in Tennessee and he currently is the orchestra director at the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences.

In addition to conducting the Youth Symphony, he is the music director at Chattanooga's First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), member of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Orchestra, Immediate Past President of the Tennessee Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and currently the president of the Tennessee Music Education Association.