Juneau Symphony winners of the Symphony's annual student concerto competition. Pickett also formed the Juneau Symphony Chorus to add voices for such works as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, and Wilson Sawyer’s Symphony No. 1 “Alaskan.” He inaugurated an annual summer Pops concert series which has featured selections from popular films, musicals and Motown favorites. His pre-performance “Concert Conversations” attracted scores of music lovers to learn more about the selections on the evening's program. Also Music Director for the North State Symphony in Chico, CA, Pickett has guest conducted with other symphonies from Montana to Mexico. In 2013, Maestro
Final Symphony as well as the top five classical albums on the "Billboard" charts and the Official UK Charts. "Final Symphony" was followed by "Final Symphony II", a concert of music from "Final Fantasy V", "VIII", "IX", and "XIII". It features long arrangements like the "Final Symphony" concerts. The majority of the music was originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu, while the "Final Fantasy XIII" suite was originally composed by Masashi Hamauzu. Valtonen created the arrangements for the "Final Fantasy V" section, Wanamo worked on the "VIII" and "IX" portions, and Hamauzu arranged his own compositions from "XIII" with orchestration by Valtonen. First