This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Christy L’Esperance: So, you're just the fourth music director for the TSO since its founding back in 1945. What does it mean to you to lead the group, and what does the orchestra mean to the community in Topeka?
Kyle Wiley Pickett: You know, it means a lot actually that for an orchestra, with that longevity, that I'm only the fourth music director, because that shows that there's been a deep commitment both by the community to the orchestra and the members of the orchestra to the orchestra itself.
That was one of the things that attracted me to the job. I've been there just over a decade now, and it's such a great community.
You know, Topeka, I think, sometimes feels a little bit in the shadow of Kansas City, but it has its own unique personality and a lot of pride in that community.
It means a lot to be able to lead the orchestra in the capital city of Kansas and as an orchestra over this last decade, we've come just an enormous way artistically.
It's been a very rewarding and enriching experience for me to be there. I love the town and the orchestra.
CL: You bring a good amount of fun to the podium and to the Topeka Symphony's public presence. Why do you take that approach instead of the traditional seriousness often associated with orchestral conductors?
KWP: That's a great question and I have a very specific reason for that.
Back in the great recession, 2008, 2009, I was conducting my orchestras. I had two orchestras. I was in Northern California and Juneau, Alaska. I commuted back and forth between Alaska and California. In California, I was in the northernmost part of the Central Valley. And if you remember the news from that time, the California Central Valley was hit extremely hard by the housing crisis. Things really just plummeted there. And I just remember thinking to myself, regional orchestras are not gonna survive unless we can make the case to our communities that they are relevant and important.
And so, you know, my conducting teacher used to say, musicians are sometimes the worst advocates for classical music. When I look at our community that we're trying to appeal to, the people who are symphonic music fans, they're going to come and support us because they're symphonic music fans. They don't care if we play Beethoven or Shostakovich or a brand new piece for orchestra or Bach, you know, they're going to be there because they're fans.
But the casual observer, the person who might be engaged in their community and are interested in live performances, but they're not necessarily a full time symphony fan, you've got to give them a reason. So I've taken an approach to both programming and publicity and outreach that is based on the idea that someone needs to be hooked for reasons other than just the reputation of classical music.
That's been my approach. We can take our art very, very seriously, but we don't have to take ourselves entirely seriously while we reach out to people.
We can take our art very, very seriously, but we don't have to take ourselves entirely seriously while we reach out to people.Kyle Wiley Pickett
CL: What do you hope audiences experience at a Topeka Symphony concert?
KWP: The whole point of going to a live performance is that it's transformative. You leave a little bit different than you were when you arrived. And part of that is the art you're seeing. Part of that is the experience of joining together with a group of people to experience that art together.
You can sit at home, you can get out your favorite Cleveland Orchestra recording from the sixties and listen to a perfect Brahms Symphony and that's great, and I do that, but when you are there in person with the person that you're gonna run into at the grocery store or your neighbor who's running for city council or someone that your kid went to school with and you experience that together, you have all joined together to say this is important.
So in terms of our season and what I hope people get? I hope they get that transformative experience.
You can learn more about the Topeka Symphony Orchestra and their upcoming performance season at topekasymphony.org.
