Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra located in Buffalo, New York. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Its regular concert season features gala concert, classics programming of core repetoire, Pops concerts, educational Youth Concerts and family concerts. During the summer months, the Orchestra performs at many parks and outdoor venues across Western New York, with Classics, Pops, opera and ballet offerings at Artpark on the Niagara Gorge in Lewiston, N.Y.

Cameron Baird, Frederick Slee, and Samuel Capen founded the orchestra in 1934. (Baird's and Slee's names now grace the two buildings which house the music department at the University at Buffalo, while the university's main administration building is named after Capen.) The BPO first performed during the 1935-1936 season under music director Lajos Shuk, and moved to Kleinhans when it opened in 1940.

Past music directors have included William Steinberg, Josef Krips, Lukas Foss, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Semyon Bychkov. During Foss's tenure, the BPO was considered the world leader in performance of 20th century symphonic music. The current music director is JoAnn Falletta, the orchestra's first female music director. Her current contract in Buffalo is through the 2011-2012 season.cite news | url=http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/449817.html | title=Falletta’s crescendo | work=Buffalo News | author=Mary Kunz Goldman | date=28 September 2008 | accessdate=2008-09-28] Robert Franz is the current resident conductor. The orchestra also performs under the baton of Paul Ferington, who leads the orchestra in many community sponsored events at Kleinhans and throughout Western New York. Other celebrated conductors who have led the orchestra include Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir Neville Mariner, and Henry Mancini. Doc Severinsen was the resident pops conductor in the 1990s. Another notable BPO pops conductor was Marvin Hamlisch who is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, A Chorus Line.

The orchestra has recorded extensively. Under Steinberg, the BPO performed a critically-acclaimed recording of Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony. Under Falletta's directorship, the BPO's recording program has focused on American composers for the Naxos label, including Frederick Converse, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, and contemporary compositions, including the first commercial recording of John Corigliano's "Mr Tambourine Man". The orchestra can also be heard in the soundtrack to Woody Allen's Manhattan (film).

Music directors

* Lajos Shuk (1935-1936)
* Franco Autori (1936-1945)
* William Steinberg (1945-1952)
* Izler Solomon (1952-1953, conductor-in-residence)
* Josef Krips (1954-1963)
* Lukas Foss (1963-1971)
* Michael Tilson Thomas (1971-1979)
* Julius Rudel (1979-1985)
* Semyon Bychkov (1985-1989)
* Maximiano Valdes (1989-1998)
* JoAnn Falletta (1999-present)

References

External links

* [http://www.bpo.org/ Official site]
* [http://www.sonybmgmasterworks.com/artists/buffalophilharmonic/ Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks]
* [http://www.music.buffalo.edu/bpo/BPO-ARCHIVE.HTML SUNY Buffalo link to Buffalo Philharmonic page, performing archive]