Conductors

Few artists are as important to the fabric of their communities as JoAnn Falletta. Acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation”, she serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. 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.

This year marks Maestro Falletta’s 20th season as Music Director of the Virginia Symphony. Under her direction, the VSO has risen to celebrated artistic heights and become recognized as one of the nation’s leading regional symphony orchestras. Recent achievements of the Virginia Symphony under the baton of Music Director JoAnn Falletta include thirteen recordings for national release, a performance of Peter and the Wolf which was aired on National Public Radio, and groundbreaking performances at the Kennedy Center and New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Ms. Falletta has been invited to guest conduct many of the world’s finest symphony orchestras. Highlights of her recent and upcoming international guest conducting appearances include the Haifa Symphony (Israel), Goettingen Symphony (Germany), Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile(Chile), Ulster Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Orchestra, National Philharmonic of Lithuania, Orquestra de Extremadura (Spain), Warsaw National Philharmonic, Kraków Philharmonic, Orchestra National de Belgique, Seoul Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, Ensemble Kanazawa (Japan), Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Orchestra of Asturias (Spain), Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre National De Lyon, Northwest German Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Lisbon Metropolitan Symphony. She has guest conducted over 100 orchestras in North America including the orchestras of Philadelphia, Detroit, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, New Jersey, Seattle, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Houston, Rochester, Utah, Edmonton, Quebec and the National Symphony.

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, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra League’s prestigious John S. Edwards Award. She is an ardent champion of music of our time, introducing over 400 works by American composers, including more than 80 world premieres. Hailing her as a “leading force for the music of our time”, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored JoAnn Falletta with her 10th ASCAP award in 2008. Ms. Falletta serves as a Member of the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Since stepping up to the podium as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the fall of 1999, Maestro Falletta has been credited with bringing the Philharmonic to a new level of national and international prominence. Under her direction, the Buffalo Philharmonic, which is celebrating its 75 anniversary this season, returned to recording, releasing 12 discs on the NAXOS label over the course of 10 years, earning two Grammy Awards and five Grammy nominations, and making the BPO one of the leading orchestras for the Naxos label and one of the most frequently recorded orchestras in the country. Last season, she led the BPO in its first multi-city tour since 1988, embarking on the artistically and financially successful five city “Florida Friends Tour” in March 2010. In 2004, the BPO performed to critical acclaim at Carnegie Hall in New York City, renewing an association with Carnegie where the BPO had performed twenty-two times in the past.

Maestro Falletta’s growing discography, which currently includes nearly 60 titles, consists of recordings with the London Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Czech National Symphony, Philadelphia Philharmonia and the Women’s Philharmonic, among others. Her recording schedule for this season includes two recordings with the London Symphony for Naxos, Jack Gallagher’s One Movement Symphony to be released in September, and Ken Fuch’s An American Rhapsody.

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, and in addition has been awarded eleven honorary doctorates.