Conductor Kyle Dickson has built a reputation as an inspiring and compelling presence on the podium. In 2023 Dickson was named the Assistant Conductor for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program. The recipient of the 2021 Grant Park Music Festival Advocate for the Arts Award, the Concert Artists Guild’s Richard S. Weinert Award, and the Joel Revzen Conducting Fellowship, Dickson recently completed the Salonen Conducting Fellowship with the San Francisco Symphony and the Colburn School under the guidance of Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen.

From 2021 Dickson was the Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. He has appeared as guest conductor with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, San Francisco, Pasadena, Wichita, and Oakland, and the Chicago Philharmonic. In 23/24 he made his debuts with the Louisville Orchestra, Portland Symphony, and Marin Symphony; as cover conductor, Dickson has been engaged by the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony.

Passionate about music education and diverse representation in the arts, Dickson has worked regularly with many youth ensembles including the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra Ensembles, the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, Ravinia’s El Sistema program, and the Colburn School’s Academy Virtuosi. Dickson’s extensive work with young musicians also includes the debut of the Chicago West Community Music School Orchestra in 2017 and his appointment as Conductor of the South Side Chicago Youth Symphony from 2019-2022.

Trained as a violinist, Dickson began his career as an orchestral, solo, and chamber musician. His playing can be heard on albums by recording artists such as John Legend and Chance the Rapper. Dickson earned his MM in Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern University under the tutelage of Victor Yampolsky and received degrees