When you’re the Music Director of a symphony orchestra, the job doesn’t consist merely of a few rehearsals followed by a 2-hour concert once a month. And when you’re employed by two orchestras, multiply the workload by at least a factor of two... and that’s not including travel time. Kyle Wiley Pickett is Music Director of both the Springfield Symphony and the Topeka Symphony orchestras. Both organizations present in the neighborhood of ten or so concerts each season. But Kyle doesn’t just conduct: he’s the public face of the organizations—and the chief administrator of both orchestras. And things are especially busy around the holidays.
When I shadowed Kyle Picket for a day, it was the Thursday before the Springfield Symphony’s Christmas pops concert—and thus a fairly typical “Day in the Life.” As the day progresses he will fulfill all three aspects of the job: conductor, administrator and “public face.” I met Kyle at noon at the Springfield Symphony offices in the Creamery Arts Center, but his day had started at home—working, not relaxing. Kyle told me, “This morning I spent my time at my office at home, preparing for Newk’s.” (Kyle would be doing his regular pre-concert preview at Newk’s Eatery later that day.) “So I was doing audio clips, editing audio clips to take to play, and trying to figure out what to say about Christmas songs that people don’t already know!” he added with a chuckle. “And then we have the meeting. This is a meeting of the ‘Flavor and Flair’ committee, the Board committee that puts on our fundraiser in January. And I don’t make every committee meeting, like Janice and the staff do, but I would say there are at least one or two a week. I am technically invited,” he said laughing, “to every committee meeting, but they sometimes excuse me!” Especially if he has to be in Topeka or elsewhere.
Well, after this nearly hour-long committee meeting Kyle then needed to talk to the orchestra’s Operations Manager Ned Horner—who is also the Springfield Symphony Assistant Principal Viola. Then it’s back home for more prep work. He told me he’d be going “back home to my home office and I’ll prep for rehearsal (tonight). So I’ll kind of go over my scores again.” This will be the first full orchestra rehearsal for the “Christmas Around the World” concert, and the orchestra will be joined by the Boys Choir of Springfield.
I next catch up with Kyle Pickett around 5:30pm at Newk’s Eatery on South Glenstone, where he hosts an informal concert preview and meet’n’greet called “Behind the Baton.” About 40 people gather on one side of the restaurant to meet Kyle and hear him talk about the upcoming concert. Meet-and-greet lasts a half-hour and his talk, about the same length. Before the presentation begins Kyle meets a recently transplanted Californian who moved to Springfield around the same time Kyle and his family did about a year and a half ago. Kyle and the fan reminisce about Jack’s Restaurant in Redding, California, where Kyle and his family lived for several years. “Oh yeah, Jack’s is fantastic!” enthuses Kyle.
After visiting with basically everyone on our side of the restaurant, Kyle picks up a microphone and talks about that weekend’s Christmas concert. He tells the crowd he’ll be talking about some of the less familiar pieces on the program, because, as he says, “How much can you say about ‘Frosty the Snowman?’” Actually, Kyle does have a “Frosty” story: “It was written for Gene Autry as a follow-up to ‘Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.’” This gets an appreciative response or two from those in the crowd old enough to remember Autry’s original recording of that song. “I will tell you about some of the other pieces that we’re going to be playing”... which he does—breezily, informally, without notes, but with short musical examples cued up on his .mp3 player.
“Behind the Baton” wrapped up just after 6:30pm, and Kyle had to drive over to the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts for an orchestra rehearsal at 7:30, but before we left Newk’s he talked a bit about public appearances and outreach like this. “Conductors, we have a strange job, because we spend our whole time with our back to the audience! And so, I look at events like this as a chance for me to show my face to the audience a little bit.”
After eating a bit of dinner in his dressing room at Hammons Hall, it’s time for Kyle to put his “game face” back on and face the orchestra for a rehearsal of the Saturday night concert. He greets the musicians cheerfully. “Good evening folks, welcome back. I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving. Holiday concert—we’ve got a whole bunch of pieces on the concert, so tonight the idea is ‘get through everything.’ Here we go—‘It’s Christmas Time.’” They start playing the first selection, “It’s Christmas Time-Medley,’ and they’re off and running.
