12 People You Need to Know in 2014: Kyle Wiley Pickett

Forget the image of a symphony conductor as the aloof, white-haired guy in a tuxedo waving his baton atop a tall podium. That’s old school.

True, Kyle Wiley Pickett wears a tuxedo, waves a baton and stands on a podium, but he’s far from aloof and he’s too young for the white hair. Modern conducting is as much public relations as it is musical prowess. Successfully balancing the two is critical to a thriving orchestra.

“It’s not really about the Beethoven. It’s about the community. On the other hand, if we don’t do the Beethoven, we don’t have the symphony,” says Pickett, Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s new music director and conductor. “The truth is, I probably spend about 80 percent of my time doing things that are administrative and talking to the community … and figuring out how to reach different audiences in our town.”

One of six finalists for the position, Pickett succeeded eight-season Springfield conductor, Ron Spigelman, in June 2013.

Pickett knows how to reach audiences. He started his conducting career in 2000 with the Juneau Symphony Orchestra in Alaska. When the California native took over the Redding (Calif.) Symphony, it was reliant on a few big donors; those funding sources faltered, and the orchestra suspended operations a year and a half later. Concurrently, Pickett was hired by the Chico (Calif.) Symphony, which also was in crisis. The organizations were about 70 miles apart and employed many of the same musicians.

“It was my idea to bring them together and serve a region rather than a single community,” Pickett says.

The North State Symphony was born in 2001 with a broadened, regional funding base and a budget that eventually grew to about $500,000.

“It’s worked really well,” he says. “It was a political feat to merge the two, because you had to get both cities to give up a little bit of their identity.”

As the 2008 recession hit, Pickett wanted to tackle a new challenge, but found little movement within arts organizations. When jobs began to open up, he eagerly approached the Springfield Symphony.

“Springfield is known as a very strong regional orchestra,” he says.

Once he interviewed, Pickett says he wanted the job more than ever.

“It’s a thriving community at a time when communities are struggling,” Pickett says.[[In-content Ad]]