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26-511: The Orlando Philharmonic is Central Florida's resident professional orchestra, composed of musicians recruited from around the world. The orchestra presents several different types of programming. The Super Series, which runs September through April, comprises ten concerts, including five classical concerts and five "pops" concerts. The 2015-2016 classical series includes guest artists such as conductor JoAnn Falletta and pianist Stuart Goodyear . The pops series features music from Broadway musicals,

52-470: A guitar student, but began conducting the student orchestra in her freshman year, which initiated her interest in a conducting career. While the Mannes administration at that time expressed doubts about the ability of any woman to gain a music directorship, it consented to an official transfer of emphasis for Falletta. After graduation, she pursued further study at Queens College (M.A. in orchestral conducting) and

78-839: A number of conducting awards, including the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award in 2002, the Bruno Walter Conducting Award in 1982, First Prize in the Stokowski Competition in 1985, the Toscanini Award in 1986, and the Ditson Conductor's Award for the Advancement of American Music in 1998. She has also received eleven awards from ASCAP for creative programming, as well as

104-734: A position she held for 29 years through 2021 when she was named the Connie and Marc Jacobson Music Director Laureate. During her tenure, the Virginia Symphony performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington and released 18 recordings including discs on the Naxos label, Albany Records, NPR and the orchestra’s own Hampton Roads label. In May 1998, Falletta was named music director of

130-551: Is a systems analyst for IBM and part-time professional clarinetist. JoAnn Falletta won a Grammy Award in 2019 for her work as a conductor in the category of Best Classical Compendium for the Naxos recording of " Fuchs : Piano Concerto 'Spiritualist'; Poems Of Life; Glacier; Rush" with the London Symphony Orchestra . She won her second individual Grammy Award in 2020 as conductor in the category of Best Choral Performance for

156-635: Is an American conductor . Falletta was raised in the borough of Queens in an Italian-American household. She was educated at the Mannes College of Music and The Juilliard School in New York City. She began her musical career as a guitar and mandolin player, and in her twenties was often called to perform with the Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic when a work called for a mandolin or guitar obbligato. Falletta entered Mannes in 1972 as

182-537: Is portrayed in the documentary film " Call Me Madame Maestro ” produced and directed by Swedish film maker Christina Olofson. The film was named Best Documentary Feature at the NYFA New York International Film Awards in February 2022. Call Me Madame Maestro is a follow-up to Olofson's 1987 Swedish documentary A Woman Is a Risky Bet: Six Orchestra Conductors , where JoAnn Falletta appears conducting

208-716: The "Negro Spiritual" Scholarship Foundation , Mad Cow Theatre , the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park , the Orange County Regional History Center and many other area organizations. JoAnn Falletta MA, Orchestral Conducting, Queens College First woman to conduct the orchestra of the National Theatre Mannheim Music director of Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra JoAnn Falletta (born February 27, 1954, in Queens, New York)

234-758: The Bob Carr Theater . The Philharmonic initiates many community collaborations. Since its inception, the orchestra has partnered with the Orlando Opera , Orlando Ballet , the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra , Florida Young Artists Orchestra , the Orlando Museum of Art , the Orlando Science Center , Bethune-Cookman University , the University of Central Florida , Stetson University ,

260-525: The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra , and she formally took up the post with the 1999–2000 season. When she was appointed, she became the first female conductor to lead a major American orchestra. During her tenure in Buffalo, the orchestra has made recordings for Naxos Records and returned to Carnegie Hall after a 20-year absence. In 2004, the orchestra and television station WNED established

286-635: The JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition . Her contract currently extends through the 2025-2026 season. In 2011 she was appointed artistic director of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra . In 2011, she was appointed the principal guest conductor of the Brevard Music Institute, where she continues to serve through the 2023 season. Outside of the U.S., Falletta first guest-conducted

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312-900: The Spoleto Festival in Italy. Mester became music director of the Louisville Orchestra in 1967 and served in the post until 1979. In this time he gave over 200 world premieres of works commissioned by the orchestra. From 1970 to 1990, he was music director of the Aspen Music Festival , and there founded the Aspen Chamber Symphony. He became music director of the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra in 1984. His most recent contract extension had been through 2012, but in May 2010,

338-626: The Ulster Orchestra in August 2010, and returned for further concerts in January 2011. In May 2011, Falletta was named the 12th principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, effective with the 2011–2012 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. She was the first American and the first female conductor to be appointed the orchestra's principal conductor. She concluded her Ulster Orchestra tenure after

364-698: The 2013-2014 season. She has conducted over 100 North American orchestras and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, South America and Asia. She was also the first woman to conduct the orchestra of the National Theatre Mannheim . Falletta served on the National Council on the Arts from 2008 to 2012, following her appointment by President George W. Bush and continued on into the Obama administration. She

390-714: The American Symphony Orchestra League’s John S. Edwards Award. Falletta has championed the work of several contemporary American composers throughout her career, with an extensive repertoire of new works and over 100 world premieres to her credit. In 2016, Falletta was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In Virginia, she was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's " Virginia Women in History " and has also been named “Norfolk Downtowner of

416-743: The Denver Chamber Orchestra from 1983 to 1992, and as associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1988. From 1986 to 1996, she served as music director of the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic . She was music director of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 2000. In 1991, Falletta was appointed the eleventh music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO),

442-541: The Juilliard School of Music (M.M., D.M.A. in orchestral conducting). Falletta studied conducting with such conductors as Jorge Mester , Sixten Ehrling , and Semyon Bychkov , and also participated in master classes with Leonard Bernstein . Falletta's first permanent engagement was as music director of the Jamaica Symphony Orchestra, a position she held from 1977 to 1989. She served as music director of

468-543: The Naxos recording of " Richard Danielpour : Passion of Yeshua." Her recording with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra of John Corigliano ’s "Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan" won two Grammy Awards in 2009. In 2023, she was nominated for a 2024 Grammy Award as conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the category of Best Orchestral Performance for her Naxos recording of Scriabin: Symphony No. 2; The Poem of Ecstasy. Falletta has won

494-684: The Orlando Philharmonic performs numerous full-orchestra outdoor fall and spring community pops concerts, performed in partnerships with municipalities throughout the region and offered free to the public. In 2010, the Philharmonic performed two Concert Operas, Carmen and Porgy and Bess . In 2011, the orchestra performed La Bohème . In 2012, the Philharmonic performed Rigoletto . The Orlando Philharmonic annually performs 30 Young People's Concerts for over 60,000 Orange, Seminole, and Volusia County Public School, private, and home school students at

520-554: The Queens Philharmonic in Stravinsky ’s The Rite of Spring in rehearsal and performance. Falletta has recorded over 120 albums for such labels as Naxos, featuring works by Brahms, Barber, and Schubert, and women composers such as Fanny Mendelssohn , Clara Schumann , Lili Boulanger , and Germaine Tailleferre , in addition to contemporary composers such as John Corigliano. Falletta married Robert Alemany in 1986. Mr. Alemany

546-662: The Year” in 2011, received a star on the Norfolk Legends of Music Walk of Fame , and received the “50 for 50 Arts Inspiration Award” from the Virginia Commission for the Arts in 2018. In 2019, the classical music radio program Performance Today named Falletta its inaugural Classical Woman of the Year. Jorge Mester Jorge Mester (born April 10, 1935, Mexico City ) is a Mexican conductor of Hungarian ancestry. He has served as

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572-669: The artistic director for the Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río, Veracruz , since it was founded in 2014. He studied conducting with Jean Morel at the Juilliard School in New York City, and worked with Leonard Bernstein at the Berkshire Music Center and with Albert Wolff . In 1955 he made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and in 1960 made his opera debut with Salome at

598-571: The cinema and popular music. All super series concerts are performed at the Bob Carr Theater in Orlando . The Philharmonic performs several chamber music concerts each year at The Plaza Live in Orlando as part of its Focus Series. A summer version of this series, the Sounds of Summer Series, takes place during June, July and August, featuring programs compiled by the orchestra's own musicians. Additionally,

624-692: The orchestra announced the conclusion of Mester's tenure as music director with immediate effect. In 1998, he became music director of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra . From 2004 until 2012, Mester was the music director of the Naples Philharmonic in Naples, Florida . Mester returned to Louisville in 2006 for his second tenure as music director of the Louisville Orchestra, on an "open-ended" contract of unfixed duration, until

650-497: The orchestra secured a new music director, with Mester as a member of the search committee. Mester has served as director of Juilliard's conducting department and conducted concerts and operas in the USC Thornton School of Music . In 1987, Mester participated in the documentary A Woman Is a Risky Bet: Six Orchestra Conductors , directed by Christina Olofson , where he comments on the conservative attitudes towards women in

676-458: The world of classical music. Mester has a long-standing affiliation with Peter Schickele and the P.D.Q. Bach concerts, dating back to 1965, when he conducted the first public P.D.Q. Bach concert. Mester has been married twice. His first marriage to Paula Seibel ended in divorce. His second marriage, which also ended in divorce, was to the American mezzo-soprano Kimball Wheeler, with whom he had

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