MEMPHIS COMPOSERS
INSTITUTE CONCERT

American conductor Kyle Dickson has built a reputation as an inspiring and compelling presence on the podium. Recipient of the 2021 Grant Park Music Festival Advocate for Arts Award and the Concert Artists Guild's Richard S. Weinart Award, Dickson serves as the Madeleine Luce Moore Assistant Conductor Chair of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony. From 2021-2023, Dickson was a Salonen Fellow with the San Francisco Symphony under the guidance of Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta under Maestra Mei-Ann Chen.

​Dickson has recently appeared as guest conductor with the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Oakland Symphony, and the Louisville Orchestra. In 23/24, Dickson made debuts with the Pasadena Symphony, Marin Symphony, Portland Symphony (ME), and Ballet Memphis. As Cover Conductor, Dickson has been engaged by the New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony as well as serving as Assistant Conductor for concerts with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Orchestre de Paris, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, he was selected as a Conducting Fellow at the National Orchestral Institute’s Conducting Academy led by Marin Alsop and he was the 2023 Festival Napa Valley Revzen Conducting Fellow.

​A passionate educator regarded for his commitment to youth as well as diversity in the arts, Dickson was awarded the Weissberg Prize and the 2024 Spirit of Detroit Award for his series, MUSIC REPRESENTS. He was Assistant Conductor for Carnegie Hall’s 2022 National Youth Orchestra (NYO2) and has worked closely with the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, Colburn Academy Virtuosi, Chicago Youth Symphony, and the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra among other youth ensembles across the country. He has been guest conductor of the CSO Young Artists Competition, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and in 24/25 makes his debut with the Equity Arc Orchestra.

​Trained as a violinist, Dickson was a prizewinner at the 2010 NANM National Concerto Competition. As guest artist, he’s held chamber music residencies at Indiana University-South Bend, the United World College of South East Asia, and served on the Violin and Chamber Music faculty at the New Music School (Chicago). He has performed with the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, Lansing Symphony, Quad City Symphony, and as Concertmaster of the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Additionally, his playing can be heard on albums by recording artists such as John Legend, Chance the Rapper, Jessie J and others as a member of the Matt Jones/Recollective Orchestra. Dickson studied Conducting at the Colburn School and Northwestern University as student of Esa-Pekka Salonen and Victor Yampolsky.