He grew up in nearby Wappingers Falls and was educated in the public schools of New York's Dutchess County.

[1] Lockhart was initiated into Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity in 1978 by the Gamma Eta chapter at Furman University.

He has conducted more than 1,900 Pops concerts, most of which have taken place during the orchestra's spring and holiday seasons in Boston's historic Symphony Hall.

He and the Pops have made 79 television shows for the long-running television show Evening at Pops and participated in such high-profile sporting events as Super Bowl XXXVI, the 2008 NBA finals, the 2013 Boston Red Sox Ring Ceremony, the Red Sox Opening Day game at Fenway Park in 2009, and Game 2 of the 2018 World Series at Fenway Park.

[2] He conducted The Star-Spangled Banner in the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

[3] Lockhart is also the Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center summer institute and festival, a program which he attended as an adolescent.

He also completed a recording of the Bernstein Serenade with violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and the London Symphony Orchestra.