Using Geek Culture to Bring a Love of Music to the Masses

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BRANSON MO NEWS: Yes, they actually climbed the mountain to get this shot. Photo credit: Kurt Smith. Image permissions given by Conductor Pickett and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.When you think of music and the Ozarks (don’t deny it… we both know you do, and often), your mind probably heads in one of two directions. Perhaps you’re old enough to remember and understand the historical significance of the Ozark Jubilee, the first network television program to feature the day’s top country music acts. Or, maybe you think of Branson, Missouri, and it’s famed 76 Strip, a mashup of the Nashville sound with Vegas-like attractions and live shows.Nearly two and a half decades before the Baldknobbers first opened their doors in Branson, and still going strong more than five and a half decades after Ozark Jubilee signed off the air from Springfield for the last time, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra has brought classical and popular instrumental music to the Ozarks. Founded during the height of the Great Depression in 1933, and now in its 82nd season, the symphony, led by Music Director and Conductor Kyle Wiley Pickett, has taken its programming to the extreme. Inspired, in part, by the symphony’ …