Springfield Symphony Orchestra

The Springfield Symphony Orchestra brings elegant and harmonious music to the Ozarks. Southwest Missouri’s largest regional, professional orchestra celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2024. Each season features nine subscription concerts—six classical and three pops/premium—plus three free community performances and a variety of education and outreach programs throughout the year.

In November, conductor Kyle Wiley Pickett conducted his 100th subscription concert with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. “It means a whole lot to me to have reached that milestone,” he says. “For one thing, it shows the incredible support I’ve received from all of the arms of the SSO… It also means that I’ve been able to leave my artistic mark on our community, bringing the music that I believe in to our population.” As a conductor, Pickett aims to keep each performance innovative, fresh, interesting and entertaining for audiences. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra already does more than most orchestras in communities of Springfield’s size, and Pickett sees room for further growth.

Pickett jokes that an orchestra is a complicated, gigantic creature. It takes more than 100 people to bring the Springfield Symphony Orchestra to the stage, including musicians, a full-time staff and a board of directors filled with community leaders. “I get to be the face of the organization and the artistic leader, but this has never been a one-man show,” Pickett says. “I’m so very grateful for the people I have worked with over this past decade.”