A Children's Concert with the local schools was added in 1980 and has been incorporated into the schedule including the winner of the Symphony's annual youth concerto competition.
For its first twenty years the Juneau Symphony relied on volunteer conductors including Berge, Lawton Hull, Jane Stewart, George Hoyt and Bernie Hendricks.
A versatile musician, Pickett earned his doctorate from Peabody Conservatory and his conducting activities range from symphony to opera, musical theater and choral work.
In Juneau, he led the orchestra in classical favorites including Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, Holst’s The Planets, and Stravinsky's Firebird.
He invited soloists including Alexander Tutanov, Mateusz Wolski, Michal Palzewicz, Annaliesa Place, Ricardo Gallardo and local violin virtuosos Linda and Paul Rosenthal, to perform concertos by Beethoven, Bruch, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius and others.
Local musicians Steve Tada, Sally Schlichting, Kathryn Kurtz, Bill Paulick, Jack Hodges and Nathan Bastuscheck were also featured as soloists as were winners of the Symphony's annual student concerto competition.