FIRST VIOLIN
Nikki Chooi
concertmaster
Amy Glidden
assoc. concertmaster
Louis P. Ciminelli Family Endowed Chair
Anton Shelepov
asst. concertmaster
Liuwenji Wang
2nd asst. concertmaster
Douglas Cone
Diana Sachs
Alan Ross
Andrea Blanchard-Cone
Loren Silvertrust
Zhen Liu
Aleksandar Ivanov
Jingyi Hou
SECOND VIOLIN
Antoine Lefebvre
principal
Jacqueline Galluzzo
assoc. principal
Lisa Jihyeon Kim
asst. principal
Frances Morgante
Robert Prokes
Shieh-Jian Tsai
Xiofan Liu
Andrew Lin
Aika Ito
Chloe Yu Gong
Jonathan Hwang*
VIOLA
Caroline Gilbert (L)
principal
Anna Shemetyeva
principal**
Kate Holzemer
assoc. principal**
Natalie Piskorsky
Matthew Philips
Janz Castelo de Armas
Joshua Lohner
Bryce Bunner*
CELLO
Roman Mekinulov
principal
Jane D. Baird Endowed Chair
Feng Hew
assoc. principal
Ethan Blake
asst. principal
Nancy Anderson
David Schmude
Amelie Fradette
Simon Housner2
BASS
Daniel Pendley
principal
Garman Family Foundation Endowed Chair
Brett Shurtliffe
assoc. principal
Nicholas Jones
asst. principal
Edmond Gnekow
Jonathan Borden
Gary Paul Matz
Ann Jonczy Pendley*
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 AND SAXAPHONE
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
Yicheng Gong
Daniel Sweeley
TRUMPET
Alex Jokipii
principal
Geoffrey Hardcastle
Philip Christner
TROMBONE
Jonathan Lombardo1
principal
Timothy Smith
BASS TROMBONE
Filipe Pereira
TUBA
Seth Rawleigh
principal
TIMPANI
Matthew Bassett
principal
Dinesh Jospeh
asst. principal
PERCUSSION
Marl Hodges
principal
Nancy E. Schmid Endowed Chair
Dinesh Joseph
HARP
Madeline Olson (L)
principal
Ruth Bennett*
MUSIC LIBRARY
Travis Hendra
principal librarian
Erin Vander Wyst
asst. principal librarian
STAGE MANAGER
Christine Kramer
Master Property Manager,
IATSE Local 10
Wesley Krantz
Master Property Manager,
IATSE Local 10
1 Chair dedicated to the memory of Scott Parkinson
2 Chair dedicated to the memory of Maer Bunis
* One year Appointment
** 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 65 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.
Visit the archive room on the upper level to learn more about Kleinhans' history.