Sigma Alpha Iota

22 Fall 2025 • sai-national.org By Louise Schwarz J oAnn Falletta has served as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) for a remarkable twenty-five years. There is perhaps no better example of the influence of women in the arts than the continuing legacy of Falletta. Her 25th anniversary with the BPO marks her as the longest-serving musical director in the orchestra's ninety-year history. Under her direction, the orchestra has risen to an unprecedented level of national and international prominence. The Buffalo Alumnae Chapter held a pre-concert reception in the spring and presented her with a plaque to acknowledge her milestone. JoAnn Falletta was born February 27, 1954, in Queens, NY, and began studying classical guitar at age 7. Falletta's parents supported her musical interests with lessons and concert attendance but were not musicians themselves. At age 11, she attended a concert at Carnegie Hall with her father. That experience solidified her desire to be a conductor. By age 12, she was beginning to study orchestral scores. Although initially discouraged from adding conducting to her classical guitar study as a woman at Mannes College, she persevered and went on to receive Master's and Doctoral degrees in Orchestral Conducting from The Juilliard School. Falletta's 1999 appointment as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra made her the first woman director of a major American orchestra. Although a high point in her career, this is just one of many "firsts" for her: She was also the first woman director of an American regional orchestra (Long Beach Symphony, California, 1989); first principal woman conductor of the Ulster Orchestra (2011–14); and the first woman to conduct Germany's historic Mannheim Orchestra (1992). She also led an orchestra at the Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland (2018), the first woman to serve in that role. Throughout her illustrious career, Falletta has conducted many of the world's finest orchestras, including over a hundred orchestras in North America across forty-six states. Internationally, her guest conducting has taken her to Europe, Asia, and South America. While Falletta has won many awards throughout her career, perhaps some of the most prestigious are the result of her long association with NAXOS as a recording artist. This relationship has led to multiple GRAMMY Awards, many with the Buffalo Philharmonic. These include a GRAMMY in 2020 as conductor in the category of Best Choral Performance for Richard Danielpour's Passion of Yeshua and two GRAMMYs in 2009 for the BPO recording of John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan. In 2020, the NAXOS recording of orchestral music of Florent Schmitt received the prestigious Diapason d'Or Award. What has given Falletta the "staying power" in Buffalo beyond many typical conducting appointments? Many people in Buffalo will tell you it has been her uncanny ability to combine making great music at a very high level with a shared love for the community she has become a part of. She has achieved significant progress in fostering dialogue with the community Cducts Twenty-Five Twenty-Five Amazing Seasons Amazing Seasons for JoAnn Falletta for JoAnn Falletta JoAnn Falletta conducts the JoAnn Falletta conducts the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

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