Multiple GRAMMY-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta serves as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) and music director laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. She has guest conducted many of the most prominent orchestras in America, Canada, Europe, Asia and South America. As music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American ensemble.

She has a discography of over 125 titles, and is a leading recording artist for Naxos. Her GRAMMY-winning Naxos recordings include Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua (8.559885–86) and John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan (8.559331), both with the BPO, and Kenneth Fuchs’ Spiritualist with the London Symphony Orchestra (8.559824).

Falletta is a member of the esteemed American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has served as a member of the National Council on the Arts, is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards and was named Performance Today’s Classical Woman of the Year 2019 and one of the 50 great conductors of all time by Gramophone magazine.

www.joannfalletta.com

“Buffalo Phil: Premieres Without Pain” courtesy of American Record Guide

Watch: JoAnn Falletta at Round Top – An Interview with John Clare

The London Symphony Orchestra was established in 1904. It is resident orchestra at the Barbican in the City of London, and reaches international audiences through touring, residencies and digital partnerships. Through a world-leading learning and community program, LSO Discovery, the LSO connects people from all walks of life to the power of great music.

Based at LSO St Luke’s, the Orchestra’s community and music education center and a leading performance venue, LSO Discovery’s reach extends across East London, the UK and the world through both in-person and digital activity.

In 1999, the LSO formed its own recording label, LSO Live, with over 150 recordings released so far. Overall, the LSO has made more recordings than any other orchestra, with 2,500 recordings to its name. The orchestra has collaborated with a genre-busting roster of world-class artists through its work in film, video games and bespoke audio-only experiences.

In addition to entertaining and inspiring millions of listeners, the LSO’s performances have been decorated with multiple honours from the GRAMMY Awards, Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and BRITs, not to mention three Mercury Music Prize album nominations.

www.lso.co.uk

Photo: John Davis

Kenneth Fuchs’s fifth album with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta won the 2018 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium. The award capped thirty years of musical collaboration between Fuchs and Falletta and fifteen years recording five albums with the LSO for Naxos American Classics.

The first album (8.559224), released in 2005, was nominated for two GRAMMY Awards. The second (8.559335) was released in 2008 and featured music for horn. Musicweb International stated, ‘Fuchs’s distinctive voice is evident from the outset, and his flair for orchestral colours and sheer lyricism shine through’.

The third album (8.559723), released in 2012, was nominated for a GRAMMY Award. BBC Music Magazine stated, ‘Kenneth Fuchs writes tonal orchestral music of great imagination. He’s a master of orchestral writing.’

The fourth album (8.559753), recorded at Abbey Road in 2013 and released in 2014, featured baritone Roderick Williams in a programme of vocal music based on texts by Don DeLillo, John Updike and William Blake. Gramophone magazine wrote, ‘Fuchs claims his own expressive warmth and colour… The performances are exemplary, from baritone Roderick Williams’s commanding artistry to the bold, fresh playing of the London Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta’s sensitive direction.’ The album’s principal work, Falling Man (text by Don DeLillo, adapted by J.D. McClatchy), was presented as a monodrama in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of 9/11 by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.

The fifth Naxos album included three new concertos—for piano, saxophone and electric guitar—and an orchestral song cycle. In 2013, Naxos released a recording of Fuchs’s chamber music (8.559733) including Falling Canons, Falling Trio and String Quartet No. 5 ‘American’. Gramophone stated, ‘Few composers have gained as much mileage—or found greater range—than Fuchs’s “Falling” works, which open and close this collection.’

Albany Records released the highly successful album Kenneth Fuchs: String Quartets 2, 3, 4 performed by the American String Quartet. The American Record Guide stated, ‘String quartet recordings don’t get much better than this.’ Fuchs’s music is performed worldwide and has achieved significant global media exposure through audio broadcast, downloading and streaming.

Fuchs serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut. At the University of Miami, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree, Fuchs studied with acclaimed band composer Alfred Reed and performed flute and piccolo under renowned band conductor Frederick Fennell. He received his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from The Juilliard School, where his teachers included Milton Babbitt, David Diamond and Vincent Persichetti.

For complete information, see www.kennethfuchs.com.