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
Symphony No. 8 (Piston) Symphony No. 8 (Piston) The Symphony No. 8 by Walter Piston is a symphony dating from 1965. The Boston Symphony Orchestra commissioned the Eighth Symphony and gave its first performance on March 5, 1965, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, to whom the score is dedicated . Initially, Piston had preferred to write a flute concerto for the Boston Symphony's principal flautist, Doriot Anthony Dwyer, but Leinsdorf preferred a symphony. The concerto was eventually composed in 1971 . According to another account, however, it was Piston himself who expressed a preference for a symphony . The work is in three movements: The