Dr. Hickman received a Ph.D. in Music Literature from U.C. Berkeley in 1979, and has taught in the music departments at the University of Hawaii, U.C. Irvine, and C.S.U. Long Beach. During that time, he has been active as a performer, music educator, and writer.
He currently serves as the music director for the Los Angeles Classical Ballet and the Four Seasons Symphony. As a ballet conductor, Dr. Hickman has given numerous performances in the region over the last fifteen years, including the American debut of the Guangzhou Ballet, the first Chinese company to perform Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker in the United States. In addition to the Four Seasons Orchestra, he has conducted several other local professional orchestras, including the Irvine Symphony and the Hollywood Symphony, which enjoyed several successful concert tours to Taiwan. Dr. Hickman has also been invited to perform as guest conductor with the San Diego Symphony, the Chicago Pops, and an international orchestra and chorus for a performance of Carl Orff's Carmina burana at the Sydney Opera House.
In 1994, Dr. Hickman established one of the premiere youth symphonies in Southern California, La Primavera. The group won a gold medal in an international music competition held at the Sydney Opera House in 1996 and has traveled extensively, performing in Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Antibes, Venice, Florence, Rome, Beijing, Shanghai, and New York (Carnegie Hall). Based on his work with young musicians, the Los Angeles Times named him “Arts Volunteer of the Year” in 1998, and the Orange County Board of Education honored him as “Educator of the Year” in 2008. In addition to working with youth orchestras, Dr. Hickman has been an active clinician and adjudicator and, between 1999 and 2001, served as the Vice President of String Education for the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association.
Dr. Hickman has written a book entitled Reel Music: Exploring 100 Years of Film Music, which was published by W.W. Norton, Inc. in 2006. He has also authored four articles in the prestigious New Grove Dictionary of Music, published several editions of symphonies and string quartets, contributed to two prominent college music textbooks (The History of Western Music and The Enjoyment of Music, published by Norton), and is currently working on a book for Scarecrow Press dealing with Miklós Rózsa’s music for the epic film Ben Hur.