Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Extends Music Director Contract

Conductor JoAnn Falletta will continue leading the orchestra through 2029

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) has announced a three-year contract extension for its Music Director JoAnn Falletta, effective as of the end of the 2025/26 season. 

To lead the orchestra through the end of the 2028/29 concert season, the extension will see Falletta celebrate her 30th anniversary with the orchestra in 2029. 

Falletta was first appointed BPO’s Music Director in 1999, when she became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra. Highlights of her tenure so far include premiering over 20 new orchestral works and commissioning over 10 new works for orchestra by composers including Daron Hagen, Adolphus Hailstork, Wang Jie, and more. 

She also saw collaborations with soloists such as Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, and Renée Fleming, plus initiated BPO's relationship with the Naxos label and led the orchestra to win two GRAMMY Awards and consecutive GRAMMY nominations in 2024 and 2025 for Best Orchestral Performance. 

In addition to establishing Beau Fleuve Records with the BPO in 1999, through which the orchestra released 31 albums, she led the BPO in its first international tour in three decades to Poland, as well as five tours of Florida, and three performances at Carnegie Hall.

A graduate of the Mannes School of Music and The Juilliard School, Falletta’s mentors included Leonard Bernstein, Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling, and Semyon Bychkov. She has since conducted nearly 2,000 orchestral works by more than 600 composers, including over 135 works by more than 70 women composers. 

Falletta also serves as Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center, Conductor Laureate of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, plus was recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of Nebraska’s Omaha Symphony. 

“It is amazing how one step forward in 1999 developed into a musical journey that is so deeply fascinating, enriching and beautiful,” Falletta said. “My time with the BPO is the most artistically satisfying period of my life, and living in this city and region is a joy. The musicians, the Board, my brilliant colleague Dan Hart and the staff have been a dream team, continuously raising our standard of excellence and celebrating the incredible community we love.

“It is truly an honor and the greatest joy to see the development and growth of an orchestra whose artistic level, imagination and character shine as a beacon of excellence in our country,” she continued. “I personally will be dedicating myself with our team to strengthening our Buffalo Philharmonic artistically, and to creating a legacy of support that will ensure that our beloved BPO will be here to bring beauty and inspiration to many generations to come. Together, we are the stewards of an incomparable treasure: our Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.”

“We all benefit from JoAnn's mission to consistently enhance the artistry of the orchestra and have a meaningful impact on our greater community,” added BPO President and Executive Director Daniel Hart. “She has created an enviable and unique profile for the BPO amongst American orchestras, and her dedication to recording and releasing albums of important orchestral works makes our impact global.”