Former Juneau Symphony conductor directs new children’s musical

Kyle Wiley Pickett, who left Juneau in 2014 to conduct the Topeka Symphony and the Springfield, Missouri Symphony, also found time to travel to Prague to record “Phineas McBoof Crashes the Symphony.”

Featuring the talent of Grammy-winning opera superstars Isabel Leonard and Nathan Gunn along with composer “Doctor Noize,” a.k.a. Cory Cullinan, “Phineas McBoof Crashes the Symphony” is billed as “a full-length, screwball musical comedy complete with fast, zany repartee, where the leading characters have over-the-top dramatic ranges combined with vocal chops that open one’s ears to what real singing with resonance and amazing projection is all about.” The album is set to release on July 15.

Kyle Wiley Pickett traveled to Prague with Cullinan to record the music with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

During Pickett’s tenure with the Juneau Symphony, Cullinan came to Juneau several times to perform his live “Doctor Noize” symphony show. It was through those performances that Cullinan and Pickett together developed the show into what would become the album.

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