FIRST VIOLIN
Nikki Chooi 
  concertmaster 
Amy Glidden
  assoc. concertmaster
  Louis P. Ciminelli Family Foundation Endowed Chair 
Anton Shelepov
  asst. concertmaster 
Yeji Kim
  2nd asst. concertmaster 
Douglas Cone
Deborah Greitzer 
Diana Sachs
Alan Ross
Andrea Blanchard-Cone 
Loren Silvertrust
Hee Sagong (L) 
Zhen Liu 
Aleksandar Ivanov 
Mari Jones** 

SECOND VIOLIN
Antoine Lefebvre 
  principal 
Jacqueline Galluzzo 
  assoc. principal 
Lisa Jihyeon Kim 
  asst. principal 
Frances Morgante 
Robert Prokes 
Shieh-Jian Tsai 
Xiaofan Liu 
Andrew Lin
Aika Ito
Chloe Yu Gong 
Jonathan Hwang** 

VIOLA
Caroline Gilbert 
  principal
Anna Shemetyeva 
  assoc. principal 
Natalie Piskorsky 
Matthew Phillips 
Kate Holzemer
Janz Castelo de Armas 
Joshua Lohner 

CELLO
Roman Mekinulov 
  principal
  Jane D. Baird Endowed Chair
Feng Hew
  assoc. principal 
Ethan Blake
  asst. principal 
Nancy Anderson 
David Schmude 
Amelie Fradette 
Simon Housner ² 

BASS
Daniel Pendley 
  principal
  Garman Family Foundation Endowed Chair
Brett Shurtliffe 
  assoc. principal 
Michael Nigrin 
Edmond Gnekow 
Jonathan Borden 
Nicholas Jones 
Gary Paul Matz

FLUTE
Christine Bailey Davis 
  principal
  Peggy and Charles Balbach Endowed Chair
Linda Greene
Natalie Debikey Scanio 

PICCOLO
Natalie Debikey Scanio 

OBOE
Henry Ward
  principal 
Joshua Lauretig 
Anna Mattix 

ENGLISH HORN
Anna Mattix

CLARINET
William Amsel 
  principal
Patti DiLutis 
Salvatore Andolina 

E-FLAT CLARINET
Patti DiLutis

BASS CLARINET & SAXOPHONE
Salvatore Andolina

BASSOON
Glenn Einschlag 
  principal
Doron Laznow
Natalya Rose Vrbsky 

CONTRABASSOON
Natalya Rose Vrbsky

FRENCH HORN
Jacek Muzyk 
  principal
  Kay Koessler Endowed Chair
Daniel Kerdelewicz 
  assoc. principal
Sophia Filippone 
Jay Matthews 
Daniel Sweeley 

TRUMPET
Alex Jokipii 
  principal
Geoffrey Hardcastle 
Philip Christner 

TROMBONE
Jonathan Lombardo ¹ 
  principal
Timothy Smith 

BASS TROMBONE
Filipe Pereira 

TUBA
Seth Rawleigh 
  principal 

TIMPANI
Matthew Bassett 
  principal 
Dinesh Joseph 
  asst. principal 

PERCUSSION
Mark Hodges 
  principal
  Nancy E. Schmid Endowed Chair
Dinesh Joseph 

HARP
Madeline Olson 
  principal 

MUSIC LIBRARY
Travis Hendra 
  principal
Erin Vander Wyst 
  asst. principal 

STAGE MANAGERS
Christine Kramer
  Master Property Manager, IATSE Local 10
Wesley Krantz
  Asst. Property Manager, IATSE Local 10
 

¹ Chair dedicated to the memory of Scott Parkinson
² Chair dedicated to the memory of Maer Bunis
** Temporary Appointment
(L) Leave of Absence

As Buffalo’s cultural ambassador, the GRAMMY Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Music Director JoAnn Falletta presents more than 120 Classics, Pops, Rock, Family and Youth concerts each year.

After the rise and fall of several forerunners, the BPO was founded in 1935, performing most often at the Elmwood Music Hall. The hall was located at Elmwood Ave. and Virginia St., and was demolished in 1938 as the BPO’s permanent home, Kleinhans Music Hall, was constructed. During the Great Depression, the orchestra was initially supported by funds from the Works Progress Administration and the Emergency Relief Bureau. Over the decades, the orchestra has matured in stature under outstanding conductors including William Steinberg, Josef Krips, Lukas Foss, Michael Tilson Thomas, Maximiano Valdés, Semyon Bychkov, and Julius Rudel. The orchestra has welcomed many distinguished guest performers such as Isaac Stern, Aaron Copland, Van Cliburn, Igor Stravinsky, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma. During the tenure of JoAnn Falletta, who has served as music director since 1998, the BPO has rekindled its history of radio broadcasts and recordings, including the release of over 60 albums.

The BPO has garnered many GRAMMY nominations and awards, including two GRAMMYs for their Naxos recording of John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan, and one for their Naxos recording of Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus. Their recordings are heard on classical radio worldwide.

Since 1940, the orchestra’s home has been Kleinhans Music Hall, which enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest concert halls in the world due to its superb acoustics.

Kleinhans Music Hall was built thanks to the generosity and vision of Edward and Mary Seaton Kleinhans and the stewardship of their charitable dreams by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and the support of the federal government. The Community Foundation was bequeathed the estates of Mr. and Mrs. Kleinhans, who made their fortune from the clothing store that bore their name, and who died within three months of each other in 1934. The Public Works Administration, an agency of the New Deal, provided crucial funding that made it possible to complete the hall.

The Kleinhanses, who were music lovers, specified their money was to be used “to erect a suitable music hall…for the use, enjoyment and benefit of the people of the City of Buffalo.”

The BPO performed at Kleinhans Music Hall’s official opening on Oct. 12, 1940, under the baton of Franco Autori.

Kleinhans Music Hall was designed by the Finnish father-and-son team of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, along with architects F.J. and W.A. Kidd. Kleinhans is known for its combination of graceful structural beauty and extraordinary acoustics. Eliel Saarinen’s aim was to create “an architectural atmosphere…so as to tune the performers and the public alike into a proper mood of performance and receptiveness, respectively.” In 1989, the hall was designated a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation of significance a site or structure can receive.

Kleinhans is owned by the City of Buffalo and operated by a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Board of Directors is comprised of Jeremy Oczek, Chair; Karen Arrison, Vice Chair; Peter Eliopoulos, Treasurer; Tania Werbizky, Secretary; Cindy Abbott Letro; Akruti Babaria; and city official David Rivera, Niagara District Council member.