In Sunday’s (4/21) Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas), Bill Blankenship writes, “The Topeka Symphony Orchestra has appointed Kyle Wiley Pickett as its conductor and music director. The hiring, which was announced Saturday night at the conclusion of the symphony’s 2012-13 season finale, ended a months-long national search that began when John W. Strickler, director for 23 years, resigned at the end of the 2011-12 season. Pickett was one of five finalists for the post who a search committee selected from 125 applicants from the United States, as well as other countries. Each finalist prepared and conducted a concert this season as an audition for the orchestra and its patrons. … Hired as the music director of the Chico and Redding symphony orchestras, Pickett oversaw the consolidation of the two ensembles into the North State Symphony, which he has led since 2001. He has helped grow the orchestra’s budget fivefold from $100,000 to half a million dollars. Since 2000, he also has served as music director of the Juneau Symphony Orchestra in the Alaska capital, where in 2003 he helped found the Juneau Symphony Chorus, which he also directs.”
Posted April 22, 2013
