Conductors

Acclaimed by The New York Times as “...one of the finest conductors of her generation”, she serves as the Music Director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Artistic Advisor to the Honolulu Symphony. An effervescent and exuberant figure on the podium, she has been praised by The Washington Post as having “Toscanini’s tight control over ensemble, Walter’s affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski’s gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein.” Both on and off the podium, she is a vibrant ambassador for music and an inspiring artistic leader. 
   
The Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s 2006/07 season celebrates the 400th anniversary of the landing at Jamestown, and will include a year-long tribute to composers who “came to America”. The season will be highlighted by new works commissioned for the occasion from John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Adophus Hailstork and John Duffy, and a world premiere performance of Kennth Fuchs’ Eventide. The season began with the recording of an American Tribute in honor of the 400th Anniversary with world premieres by James Hosay and James Beckel, and will culminate with a gala televised concert on May 13, featuring an expanded orchestra of 400 musicians performing with a 1607 voice chorus. Other recordings projects for the season include an all Brahms CD. 
  
Ms. Falletta has been invited to guest conduct many of the world’s finest symphony orchestras. Highlights of her guest conducting appearances this season include her debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, featuring a world premiere of Talbot’s Trumpet Concerto with Alison Balsom. Falletta is also making her first appearance with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal in Germany, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Belgium and the Shanghai Philharmonic. This summer, she made acclaimed debuts with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and the Jerusalem Symphony. In the 2007/08 season, she is scheduled to make debuts with the BBC Philharmonic of Manchester Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Orchestre National De Lyon, the Northwest German Philharmonic and the Orchestra of Asturias (Spain). 
  
Ms. Falletta is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards, including the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award for exceptionally gifted American conductors, the coveted Stokowski Competition, and the Toscanini, Ditson and Bruno Walter Awards for conducting. She is an ardent champion of music of our time, introducing over 400 works by American composers, including more than 80 world premieres, and has received eight consecutive awards from ASCAP for creative programming, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra League’s prestigious John S. Edwards Award, and the ASCAP/ASOL award for Adventurous Programming with the Buffalo Philharmonic. 
  
Maestro Falletta is a prolific recording artist. Her growing discography, which will soon include over 40 titles, consists of recordings with the London Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony, the Long Beach Symphony, the Czech National Symphony and the Women’s Philharmonic. In addition to her upcoming releases with the BPO and the VSO, Ms. Falletta’s current projects include world premiere recordings of the orchestral music of Kenneth Fuchs with the London Symphony, and Romeo Cascarino with the Philadelphia Philharmonic, both to be released on the Naxos label, as well as a recording of the music of Paul Schoenfield with the Prague Philharmonia. 
  
Together with English Horn soloist Thomas Stacy and the London Symphony Orchestra, Falletta received a 2006 Grammy nomination for “Eventide”, Concerto for English Horn, Harp, Percussion, and String Orchestra, by Kenneth Fuchs, from the CD An American Place, (Naxos American Classics). Her 2004 recording of Griffes Orchestral Music, on the Naxos label with the Buffalo Philharmonic, was selected as an Editor’s Choice Recording by Gramophone. 
  
Ms. Falletta received her undergraduate degree from the Mannes School of Music in New York, and her master’s and doctorate degrees from The Juilliard School.

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