HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College English Program’s spring Visiting Artist Series will feature JoAnn Falletta, Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, who has been acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation.” Falletta’s presentation on "The Culture of Leadership" will be held on Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m. in the William E. Swan Auditorium on the Hilbert campus. Falletta’s presentation will be followed by a reception to be held in her honor with food and refreshments.

Falletta is internationally celebrated as a vibrant ambassador for music, a champion of American symphonic music, and an inspiring artistic leader.  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.”

Falletta is the recipient of many prestigious conducting awards, including the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award, 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 American music, introducing more than 500 works by American composers, including more than 110 world premieres. Hailed as a “leading force for the music of our time,” she has been honored with 12 ASCAP Awards and also serves as a member of the National Council on 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 has become one of the leading orchestras for the Naxos label, earning a double Grammy Award in 2009 for their recording with soprano Hila Plitmann of John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man, and six Grammy nominations. This season, the BPO will once again be featured on national broadcasts of NPR’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast, and international broadcasts through the European Broadcasting Union.

The Visiting Artist Series is free and open to the public but reservations are suggested. Please call 716-926-8856 or email hughes@hilbert.edu.