Timing is important to a conductor, and timing was everything when it came to Gerhardt Zimmermann getting his start in a career that he has both enjoyed and excelled in for more than 40 years.

Upon graduating from the University of Iowa’s School of Music with an MFA in orchestral conducting in 1972, Zimmermann thought about pursuing his doctorate before actively searching for positions as a conductor. But short on funds to extend his schooling, Zimmermann decided to sign a fulltime contract as a music teacher in the Center Point, Iowa, school district.

While preparing for the school year, Zimmermann received an unexpected call from Western Illinois University, which was looking for a conductor. A former instructor of Zimmermann’s had recommended him for the job.

“I told the superintendent in Center Point, ‘You know I want to be a conductor, but if you don’t think you can find someone, I’ll report for duty,’” Zimmermann says. “(The superintendent) said, ‘If a bigger school district called me, I would have to take their offer. Go ahead and take the job.’ I was very lucky.”

Zimmermann quickly moved on from Western Illinois, later serving as the assistant conductor for the St. Louis Symphony. His career continued to accelerate, sending him around the country and to many different parts of the world.

“I was living the dream, and I still am,” Zimmermann says.

The Ohio native is in his 35th season as music director and conductor of the Canton Symphony Orchestra; from 1982 to 2002 he simultaneously served as the as the music director and conductor of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra as well. Additionally, Zimmermann has been the music director and principal conductor for the Breckenridge Music Festival for 21 seasons while also appearing as a guest conductor for orchestras around the world. He eventually returned to education and serves as the director of Orchestral Activities and professor of instrumental conducting at the University of Texas at Austin.

Zimmermann is returning to the UI as a guest conductor for the Dixon Memorial Concert on April 22. He will lead the UI Symphony Orchestra and world-renowned pianist Garrick Ohlsson in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat Minor, op. 23.

The concert honors the late James Dixon, who was the Phillip Greeley Clapp/Carver Distinguished Professor of Music and the longtime director of the UI Symphony Orchestra. Zimmermann was a prize pupil of Dixon’s, and Ohlsson was a longtime friend of the late professor.

In addition to Zimmermann and Ohlsson, current UI professors Gregory Hand (organ) and Courtney Miller (English horn), and Director of Orchestral Studies William LaRue Jones will perform.

The event is free, but tickets will be required due to limited seating. A reception celebrating the life and work of James Dixon will follow, with Zimmermann and Ohlsson in attendance. Tickets to the reception, a fundraiser for the UI School of Music, are $75 and are available through the Hancher Box Office.

Zimmermann recently spoke with Iowa Now about his time at the UI, his career, and the influential teacher he honors with his guest performance.

Returning to the UI for this memorial concert, it’s obvious James Dixon made quite an impression on you. What did he mean to you personally?

I consider him my most important teacher. He is the person who gave me the foundation of exactly how to look at scores, the pacing of scores, and how all of these wonderful works by great composers are put together: How do you decide on a tempo of a first movement of a symphony? It’s not all there. You can’t just go by the marks; there’s a lot more to delve into. He was great at getting into the inner workings of a score. That’s the biggest thing I got from him.

Are there any memories of him that particularly stand out?

Watching and hearing Dixon doing a Mahler symphony was one of the bright spots. In particular, I remember him doing a Mahler Symphony no. 2 that was really tremendous. He actually received the Mahler Medal of Honor (from the Bruckner Society of America).

I remember his command of the orchestra as well. James was such a commanding figure and was very exacting.

I also remember the UI Symphony Orchestra to be very, very good. In fact, one of the players from his orchestra ended up as one my cellists in the North Carolina Symphony.

What are some of your career highlights since you left the UI?

I believe it was January of 1978 when I filled in for Walter Susskind (who couldn’t travel due to a blizzard) conducting the St. Louis Symphony in Carnegie Hall on seven hours’ notice. It was Mahler Symphony no. 4 with Elly Ameling, who was one of the top sopranos in the world at the time.

I had seven hours to prepare, then an hour and a half to rehearse, and it went very, very well. From that I was offered management from one of the big firms in New York City.

Also, while I was in North Carolina we did Mahler no. 8, which is known as the “Symphony of a Thousand.” We got together 975 performers, 750 in the chorus itself. The orchestra was huge. We did two performances of that on a platform on the floor of North Carolina State’s basketball arena. The chorus went up all the way in the bleachers, and we had an audience of about 10,000 at each performance. It was such a thrill.

How often have you and Garrick Ohlsson performed together, and what should the audience expect from this particular performance?

I’ve worked with him four times between the Canton and North Carolina symphonies. I think Garrick is really a first-class pianist. I’ve always loved working with him.

I think it’s going to be an exciting Tchaikovsky. It will have some aspects of chamber music in the work, which is very, very important. I can’t wait to do it.