The North Carolina Symphony most recently featured JoAnn Falletta as guest conductor in 1997, with concerts including Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations, Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, Fauré’s Élégie, and the first Cello Concerto of Saint-Saëns.

Multiple Grammy Award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center, and Conductor Laureate of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. She was recently named one of the “Fifty Great Conductors,” past and present, by Gramophone Magazine.

As Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra. She has conducted in Europe, Asia, and South America. Her recent and upcoming North American guest conducting includes the National Symphony Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Quebec, and Tulsa, among many other orchestras and conservatories.

With a discography of over 135 titles, Falletta has won two individual Grammy Awards. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has served as a Member of the National Council on the Arts during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. In 2019, she was named Performance Today’s first Classical Woman of the Year, lauding her “unique combination of artistic authority and compassion, compelling musicianship and humanity.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree at Mannes College of Music, Falletta received master’s and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School. She has held the positions of Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, Music Director of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the Denver Chamber Orchestra and The Women’s Philharmonic.