In the Gardens of Spain
Wednesday, June 27, 7:30 PM
Breckenridge Riverwalk Center
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Upon her appointment as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999, Maestro Falletta became the first female conductor to lead a major American ensemble. She has since been credited with bringing the BPO to a new level of national and international prominence. This season, the BPO will once again be featured on national broadcasts of NPR’s Performance Today, SymphonyCast, and international broadcasts through the European Broadcasting Union. Both the BPO and the Virginia Symphony have received ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming during JoAnn’s tenure. Under Falletta’s direction, the VSO has risen to celebrated artistic heights. The VSO, which made critically acclaimed debuts at the Kennedy Center and New York’s Carnegie Hall under Falletta and entered into their first multinational recording agreement with Naxos, performs classics, pops and family concert series in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Williamsburg.
Falletta first fell in love with music when she was 7 and began studying classical guitar. The JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, sponsored by the Buffalo Philharmonic and WNED-FM in Buffalo, is one of the premier classical guitar performance competitions in the world.
In addition to her current posts with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, Brevard Music Center and Hawaii Symphony, Ms. Falletta has held the positions of principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, music director of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the Denver Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Falletta received her undergraduate degree in classical guitar from the Mannes College of Music in New York and her master’s and doctorate degrees in conducting from The Juilliard School.