Springfield Symphony director conducts economic booster

Kyle Wiley Pickett is more than a black-coated man waving his hands in front of a throng of instrument-wielding classical musicians. He's a leader of one of Springfield's economic drivers.

"The reason the symphony is so important to Springfield itself is not necessarily about the Beethoven that we play," said Pickett, this morning's guest for Springfield Business Journal's 12 People You Need to Know editorial series. "We are one of the components that makes Springfield a better place to live, a better place to do business, a better place to bring up your kids, a better place to recruit workers."

Leading his first concert for the symphony in September, Pickett is finishing his first year as music director and conductor with a concert each in April and May, as well as the orchestra's gala and largest fundraiser at the end of May. Pickett beat out six finalists to succeed eight-season conductor Ron Spigelman, while simultaneously being picked to lead the Topeka Symphony in Kansas. He's also wrapping up his work on the West Coast, where he led a merger of two struggling companies into the regional North State Symphony in northern California and has worked as conductor of the Juneau Symphony Orchestra in Alaska.

In Springfield, Pickett said the symphony is set to break previous ticket records this season. As many as 15,000 people will have seen the orchestra play by the end of the season in May, he said, noting some 8,000 are season ticket holders.

"Even if we just coast from here out, I think we're going to beat all previous ticket sales records, and we're not coasting, believe me," he said.

With a budget of $800,000 during the symphony's 79th season, Pickett has his work cut out for him. Beyond paying the 60 to 80 musicians playing in each concert - which costs as much as $40,000 per show - he said the economic impact includes season ticket holders, who he said spend about $200,000 in the Springfield community every time they attend a concert at Juanita K. Hammons Hall.

"Eight thousand ticket-goers will spend about $200,000 on dinner, on babysitting, theater parking, all those kinds of things, which adds $10,000 in local tax revenue and $15,000 in state tax revenue and the equivalent of five full-time employment jobs," Pickett said. "That's just from people who are buying tickets."

Pickett's next challenge is expanding the symphony's fan base. He said while the symphony will continue to cater to its core demographic - those 55 to 60 years old - it's his goal to get the symphony before the 25- to 45-year-old audience.

"They are not afraid of classical music, nor are they afraid of live performance. But it's difficult to get them to come to the hall. One of those reasons is they tend to not like to do an activity where they feel like they're surrounded by their parents," Pickett said. "One of our goals is to get the orchestra out of the hall and in front of that demographic where they are. If they won't come to the hall, we'll bring the orchestra to them."

In what he calls the "symphony in unexpected places," Pickett said one idea to engage younger crowds is to bring the symphony to venues such as downtown bars, the ballpark and farmers markets.

No matter the age, he hopes to foster a spirit of community with the symphony, an experience he believes to be rare these days.

"The live concert-going experience creates a bond of community. When you go to hear a performance at Springfield Symphony, you are seeing members of your community sitting on the stage. You're seeing your children's violin teachers, you're seeing the high school orchestra teacher up there on the stage, you're seeing neighbors, you're seeing your eye surgeon, maybe one of your doctors is up there on the stage playing," he said. "You're experiencing something in real time that forces you to do something together.

"We all enter into a contract with each other that we're going to sit together and enjoy something over a period of time, and that doesn't happen very often in our society anymore," he said. "There's great value to that. That value extends past the time of the concert."[[In-content Ad]]