Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Location

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra that performs at Kleinhans Music Hall.  Its regular concert season features gala concerts, classics programming of core repertoire, 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.

As Buffalo's cultural ambassador, the BPO presents more than one hundred twenty Classics, Pops and Youth Concerts each year in Western New York.

During the tenure of current music director JoAnn Falletta, the Buffalo Philharmonic has rekindled its distinguished history of PBS broadcasts and recordings, including the release of eight new CDs of a highly diverse repertoire on the NAXOS and Beau Fleuve labels.

M&T Bank Classics Series - 2010-2011

OPENING NIGHT
October 2, 2010 – 8 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Midori, violin

The 75th Anniversary Celebration opens on October 2nd, 2010 as the BPO’s first official concert did in 1935 – with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture. Powerful and expressive, the work is one of the last of Beethoven’s middle period, cast in a similar style to that of his “Eroica” Fifth Symphony.

Excerpts of Prokofiev’s Suites No. 1-3 from Cinderella follows. One of the composer’s most popular and melodious compositions, the music is an Orchestral setting of that used for the 1945 Bolshoi Ballet production of the classic children’s tale.

Closing the concert, renowned violinist Midori joins the ensemble as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. One of the best-known and notably difficult works in the repertoire, the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto is particularly suited to Midori’s technical expertise and artistic grace.

Kyle MacMillan of the Denver Post: “This devilishly challenging work, with all its high-flying pyrotechnics, is generally considered a virtuosic showpiece, and Midori didn't shirk from that aspect of the concerto in the least, dashing through the finale at an impressively breakneck speed. But the word that kept coming to mind to describe her interpretation is one not typically associated with this piece: spellbinding.”

Midori was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1971 and began studying the violin with her mother, Setsu Goto, at a very early age. In 1982, when Zubin Mehta first heard her play, he was so impressed that he invited her to be a surprise guest soloist for the New York Philharmonic's traditional New Year's Eve concert, on which occasion she received a standing ovation and the impetus to begin a major career. Her violin is the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesu "ex-Huberman", which is on lifetime loan to her from the Hayashibara Foundation.

LOVERS’ CLASSICS
Friday, October 8 – 10:30 AM
Saturday, October 9 – 8 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Tianwa Yang, violin

The Shakespearean tale of Antony and Cleopatra has become a classic of Western Civilization, performed countless times over the past 400 years. The concert opens with French composer Florent Schimtt’s instrumental accompaniment of a 1920 stage production.

Chinese-born, German-trained violinist Tianwa Yang then joins the ensemble as soloist in one of the most popular and recognizable Chinese compositions – Chen and He’s Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto. A staple of concert halls and popular as a backdrop for figure skating, the piece is written in traditional Western tonal style. As the piece develops, the solo violin contrasts with a solo cello part representing the development of the lovers’ relationship culminating with their transformation in death into butterflies.

The Virginia Gazette said of her performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto: “Yang dazzled the crowd with her extraordinarily lush tone, lyrical quality, pyrotechnic skills of the most amazing kind, and emotional delivery. It was artistry and bravura blended into a phenomenally flawless performance.”

Of Beijing descent, Tianwa Yang started studying the violin at the age of four soon winning six out of the seven violin competitions she entered. At the age of ten she was accepted by Professor Lin Yaoji at the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing, and by the following year media in Hong Kong described her as “A Pride Of China”. Following her performance at the 1999 Beijing Music Festival, Isaac Stern invited her to study with him in the USA. In 2000, at the age of 13, she recorded the 24 Caprices of Paganini, which makes her the youngest interpreter of this composition worldwide. In 2004, she commenced her collaboration with Naxos, recording the first two volumes of the complete works of Sarasate that will become a 7 CD complete collection.

Finishing the evening’s tragic-romantic triptych are Excerpts from Berlioz’ Romeo and Juliet. Taking in the full scope of the famous Shakespearean drama, it opens with a fiery introduction representing the conflict between the title character’s respective feuding Capulet and Montague families. Along the way the music frames the evolution of the story, culminating with a powerful orchestra scene representing Romeo's invocation, Juliet's awakening, and the despair and death of the lovers.

FROM POLAND WITH LOVE
Saturday, October 23 – 8 PM
Sunday, October 24 – 2:30 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Berenika, piano

The Western New York Chapter of the Kosciuszko Foundation is pleased to announce, in cooperation with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, a concert featuring pianist Berenika. The concert will be the signature event for Western New York's celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Chopin.

The entirely-Polish themed concert opens with Karol Szymanowski’s Concerto Overture. Heavily influenced by Chopin and sharing his countryman’s interest in Polish folk music, Szymanowski developed a highly individual rhapsodic style and a unique harmonic world of his own.
Canadian-born Berenika joins the ensemble as piano soloist in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Actually the second concerto the composer wrote, although the first to be performed, the First Piano Concerto features a simplicity of arrangement in contrast to the complexity of the harmony.
San Francisco’s Classical Voice said of Berenika’s performance of Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto: “The piano’s balance with the orchestra was fine. …the brilliant passagework in the Chopin, keenly mastered by the soloist, Berenika, was crystal clear, glistening in fact. It was a very impressive, poised and stylish performance”

Berenika is the recipient of the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Scholarship at Harvard, the Arthur W. Foote prize of the historic Harvard Musical Association, the John Knowles Paine Fellowship and the Canada Council for the Arts Award.

Mieczysław Karłowicz’s symphonic tone poem “A Sad Tale” follows. One of his few compositions to survive World War II, Karłowicz’s music displays a late-romantic character.

Also sharing Chopin’s interest and appreciation for Polish folk music, Witold Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra is the great 20th-Century composer’s crowning achievement in the folkloristic style. Building upon and transforming the melodic themes of his country, the Concerto brought Lutoslawski to the attention of the West from behind the postwar Iron Curtain.

BRAHMS’ DESTINY
Saturday, November 6 – 8 PM
Sunday, November 7 – 2:30 PM
Leon Botstein, conductor
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Doreen Rao, Music Director

The musicianship of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and the complex and groundbreaking music of Johannes Brahms come together in two of the most powerful vocal works in the Classical repertoire. And conductor Leon Botstein’s program continues his well-known thematic programming with a combination of Brahms’ examination of death and destiny and Prokofiev’s Third Symphony.

Brahms’ 1881 setting of Friedrich Schiller’s poem Nanie is one of the most difficult and challenging works in the vocal canon. Nänie is a lamentation on the inevitability of death; the first sentence, Auch das Schöne muß sterben, translates to "Even the beautiful must die."

Like his music, Brahms was always looking backwards and forwards. While his A German Requiem was based on Biblical quotations, it omitted passages about salvation in favor of a more humanist approach. In contrast, Schicksalslied or “Song of Destiny” look almost entirely forward. The Friederich Holderlin poem upon which it is based has only two verses, the first describing the bliss of the gods and the second the sufferings of mankind, "plunging blindly into the abyss."

Prokofiev’s Third Symphony was based upon his opera The Fiery Angel, which he was never to see performed, the music is fully realized in symphonic form rather than a programmatic context. An impressive piece of complexity and depth, the Symphony – as the title of the opera which inspired it suggests – touches on the supernatural.

Leon Botstein, President of Bard College, has been music director of the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) since 1992; in 2003 he was appointed music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra of the Israel Broadcast Authority. He is also co-artistic director of the Bard Music Festival and music director of the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra. He conducts the ASO’s subscription series at Avery Fisher Hall, as part of Lincoln Center Presents Great Performers, as well as the orchestra’s educational concert series for adult listeners, Classics Declassified, at Miller Theatre, Columbia University. He is also a prominent scholar of music history, the editor of The Musical Quarterly, and the author of numerous articles and books on such diverse topics as music, education, history, and culture. He is the recipient of the National Arts Club Gold Medal, the Austrian Cross of Honor from the Austrian Cultural Forum, the Centennial Medal of the Harvard Graduate School of the Arts and Science, and the Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

GERSHWIN FESTIVAL – Part Two
Friday, November 19 – 10:30 AM
Saturday, November 20 – 8 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Orion Weiss, piano

The second, Classical, half of this season’s “Gershwin Festival” opens with music of the 21st Century – American composer Philip Rothman’s “Arc of Visibility.” In the composer’s own words: “‘Arc of Visibility’ is inspired by a series of black-and-white photographs on the theme of ‘moonlight.’ In one of the photographs, a lighthouse stands in near total blackness, the top of which is illuminated by the moon to mysterious and haunting effect. The lighthouse image led me to discover the nautical term ‘arc of visibility,’ the definition of which is ‘the portion of the horizon over which a lighted aid to navigation is visible from seaward.’ With this in mind, ‘Arc of Visibility’ is a navigation of musical waters by moonlight, through varying winds and weather.”

Music Director JoAnn Falletta leads the ensemble and American pianist Orion Weiss performs as soloist in two pieces by the legendary George Gershwin which will be recorded for release on the NAXOS recording label. The first is Concerto in F, composed in 1925. Following closely upon the success of the well-known Rhapsody in Blue, the Concerto is particularly remarkable in that Gershwin taught himself the Concerto form while simultaneously composing for thee Broadway musicals. The piece, understandably, walks the fine line Gershwin often strikes between American jazz and “true Classical.” Much of the composition and orchestration was done in Western New York at the Chautauqua Institution.

Gerhswin’s Rhapsody in Blue is one of his most popular compositions. Less well-known is his under-appreciated Second Rhapsody, which will be heard at these performances. Heavily influenced by the composer’s beloved New York City, the Second Rhapsody had several names including Manhattan and Rhapsody in Rivets before Gershwin settled on simply “Second Rhapsody.” Orion Weiss again joins the ensemble at the piano.

Pianist Orion Weiss is one of the most sought-after soloists and collaborators in his generation of young American musicians. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him acclaim from audiences, critics and colleagues in a wide range of repertoire and formats. A native of Lyndhurst, OH, Mr. Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music.

William Schuman’s New England Triptych concludes the program. Based on the melodies of works by American composer William Billings and subtitled “Three Pieces of Orchestra after William Billings,” the work harkens back to the late 1700s while retaining its place among 20th Century music. As the composer observes: “William Billings is a major figure in the history of American music. His works capture the spirit of sinewy ruggedness, deep religiosity, and patriotic fervor that we associate with the Revolutionary period in American history. I am not alone among American composers who feel a sense of identity with Billings, which accounts for my use of his music as a departure point. These three pieces are not a "fantasy" nor "variations" on themes of Billings, but rather a fusion of styles and musical language.”

ELGAR AND BRAHMS
Saturday, December 4 – 8 PM
Sunday, December 5 – 2:30 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Lynn Harrell, cello

Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s 1995 composition “Isle of Bliss” (or “Lintukoto” in his native tongue) opens the program with a characteristic 'Rautavaara sound' with a rhapsodic string theme of austere beauty, whirling flute lines, gently dissonant bells and the suggestion of a pastoral horn.

Acclaimed cellist Lynn Harrell then joins the ensemble as soloist in Sir Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, one of the cornerstones of the cello repertoire. The piece represented, for Elgar, the angst, despair, and disillusionment he felt after the end of the First World War, and an introspective look at death and mortality.

The Boston Globe said of Harrell’s performance of the concerto: “Harrell responds both to the famous elegiac element in Elgar and to the robust, sinewy and ruddy-cheeked side, both aspects joined on a long, singing through-line. From the opening gesture, Harrell embraced us and didn’t put us down, gently but with a flourish, until the end. His playing was bold, imaginative, and surpassingly sensitive…fully human and rich in detail.”

Lynn Harrell’s presence is felt throughout the musical world. A consummate soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor and teacher, his work throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia has placed him in the highest echelon of today’s performing artists. He regularly collaborates with such noted conductors as James Levine, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, André Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas and David Zinman.
The concert closes with what could be considered the magnum opus from one of Classical Music’s giants – Brahms’ Fourth Symphony. The symphony is rich in allusions, most notably to various Beethoven compositions, and has been popular among audiences since it’s debut in 1885.

A CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS
Saturday, December 18 – 8PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor

Music Director JoAnn Falletta takes the podium for the BPO’s annual Classical Holiday tradition. One night only, the BPO brings some of you most beloved holiday classics to life at Kleinhans.

LANG LANG’S BUFFALO DEBUT
Saturday, January 29, 2011 – 8 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Lang Lang, piano

Heralded as the “hottest artist on the classical music planet” by the New York Times, 27-year-old Lang Lang has played sold out recitals and concerts in every major city in the world and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and all the top American orchestras. Well, all of them now that he’s included Buffalo on his schedule!

The keyboard wizard will perform the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto as soloist with the BPO, led by JoAnn Falletta. One of Rachmaninoff’s most popular compositions, the lyrical beauty of the work has impressed audiences for generations.

Barry Johnson of the Oregonian remarked: “His strength was obvious - the thumping bass at the beginning of the first movement and general power throughout asserted the dominance of the soloist - but he was a keen listener engaging in an intense conversation with the orchestra.”

Testimony to his success, Lang Lang recently appeared in the 2009 Time 100 – Time magazine's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2008, over 5 billion people viewed Lang Lang’s performance in Beijing’s opening ceremony for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad where he was seen as a symbol of the youth and future of China. Continuing his presence on the world stage, Lang Lang was featured at the 2008

Grammy's, pairing up with jazz great, Herbie Hancock, for an astounding performance that was broadcast live to 45 million viewers worldwide. The two pianists continued their collaboration with an inaugural world tour in summer 2009.

Lang Lang has become the face of numerous global campaigns. Steinway has recognized Lang Lang's popularity with children by creating five versions of the “Lang Lang™ Steinway” designed for early music education. This is the first time in its 150-year history that Steinway has ever used an artist’s name to produce pianos. He is a global brand ambassador for Sony Electronics and Audi. Lang Lang’s performance clothes are provided by Versace.

The program also includes the famous “Enigma Variations” of Sir Edward Elgar, featuring a theme with 14 variations done in styles which reminded the composer of his friends. Of these, perhaps the “Nimrod” variation (Number Nine) is the most popular yet the enigma remains, as the composer himself never revealed the source of his inspiration - “the Enigma I will not explain….through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes’ but is not played.” This puzzle has teased generations of musicians and no credible solution has been propounded.

MOZART’S BIRTHDAY
Friday, February 4 – 10:30AM
Saturday, February 5 – 8 PM
Andrew Constantine, conductor
Terence Wilson, piano

The Philharmonic’s annual tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart features Maestro Andrew Constantine leading two works by the Austrian genius, a Symphony of one of Mozart’s great influences – Joseph Haydn – and a 1907 tone poem by Alfred Butterworth.

Andrew Constantine serves as Music Director of both the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and the Reading Symphony Orchestra. Having gained a reputation in Europe and the UK as a conductor of great skill, charisma, energy and versatility, Andrew Constantine moved to the US in 2004 to become Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Within his first season there he was promoted to Associate Conductor. Described by Classic FM (the UK’s largest radio station) as “a Rising Star of Classical Music” Andrew Constantine is regularly engaged by the UK’s leading symphony orchestras including The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, and by many others throughout Europe.

“No two people have the same experience of classical music,” says Maestro Constantine. “Our interpretation draws on personal insights, memories and feelings. The challenge is to persuade more people to go to concerts and discover this for themselves.”

The supernatural Overture to The Magic Flute opens the concert. One of Mozart’s most popular operas, it is performed frequently across the globe.

Pianist Terrence Wilson is then the featured soloist in the 21st Piano Concerto. One of Mozart’s most enduring works, it features a stunning Andante second movement which was featured in the 1967 Swedish film, Elvira Madigan, which has led to the anachronistic nickname to which some still refer.

The Cincinnati Enquirer said “Wilson demonstrated not only a masterful technique, but also a depth of musical artistry at the keyboard that was nothing short of astounding.”

Terrence Wilson has received numerous awards and prizes, including the SONY ES Award for Musical Excellence, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Juilliard Petschek Award. He has also been featured on several radio and television broadcasts, including NPR's "Performance Today," WQXR radio in New York, and programs on the BRAVO Network, the Arts & Entertainment Network, and public television

George Butterworth’s “The Banks of the Green Willow” is one of the many pieces which concert-goers tend to recognize by tune, if not by title. Wrapping two English folk tunes into this six-minute tone poem, the piece has been used in many places outside the concert hall, such as popular advertisements.

Maestro Constantine then concludes the program leading the ensemble in Haydn’s 101st Symphony – The Clock. Taken from his famous set of “London Symphonies” (of which it is the Ninth) , it was rapturously received in its first performance and has remained popular ever since. The “Clock” moniker refers to the steady “ticking” sound in the second movement.

A FIFTH OF TCHAIKOVSKY
Saturday, February 19 – 8 PM
Sunday, February 20 – 2:30 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Christine Bailey Davis, flute

The BPO’s own principal flute Christine Bailey Davis is the featured soloist in Lowell Liebermann’s Flute Concerto. The New York City native is one of America's most frequently performed and recorded living composers. The Flute Concerto has been recorded by Sir James Galway, among others. Liebermann’s music is known for its technical demands and audience appeal.

Ms. Bailey Davis has been performing around the Buffalo area as both soloist and ensemble player since she was eleven years old. After soloing with the BPO on two daytime youth concerts in 1990, she made her professional debut in 1992, at age 18, soloing with New York City chamber orchestra Philharmonic Virtuosi, at Artpark, in Lewiston, NY.

Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti’s 1951 piece Concert Romanesc opens the program. The work is based in part on actual Romanian folk music Ligeti had studied at the Folklore Institute of Bucharest in 1949. Like his compatriots Bartók and Kodály before him, Ligeti had a genuine interest in folk music. The Concerto's four short movements follow one another without pause.

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony is a cyclical symphony, with a recurring main theme derived from a passage in Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar—significantly, a passage using the words "turn not into sorrow". The theme has a funereal character in the first movement, but gradually transforms into a triumphant march, which dominates the final movement.

AIKIN SINGS STRAUSS
Friday, March 4 – 10:30 AM
Saturday, March 5 – 8 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Laura Aiken, soprano

Buffalo’s own Laura Aiken returns to solo with the BPO for her first time since delighting Artpark audiences in the Summer of 2009.
JoAnn Falletta leads the Orchestra, opening the program with the technically demanding Don Juan of Richard Strauss. Written at the age of only 24, Strauss’ tone poem has become a favorite of audiences and a staple of Orchestral auditions due to the virtuosity required throughout the ensemble.

Ms. Aiken performs as soloist in Strauss’ Four Last Songs. Written sixty years after Don Juan the work is Strauss’ last composition. The songs deal with death and were written shortly before Strauss himself died. However, instead of the typical Romantic defiance, these Four Last Songs are suffused with a sense of calm, acceptance, and completeness. The settings are for a solo soprano voice given remarkable soaring melodies against a full orchestra, and all four songs have prominent horn parts.
Alban Berg’s Seven Early Songs compliments the Strauss, with Ms. Aiken again joining the Orchestra. Bearing some musical heritage of Strauss, the songs are an interesting synthesis combining Berg's heritage of pre-Schoenberg song writing with the rigor and undeniable influence of Schoenberg.

World renowned American Soprano Laura Aikin is considered a leader amongst dynamic Sopranos performing today. Possessing a range of over three octaves and an arresting stage presence, her repertoire embraces works from the Baroque to the contemporary on both the concert and operatic stages. Miss Aikin began her studies in her hometown of Buffalo, New York and Indiana University, where she studied with Margaret Harshaw. On receiving a two-year grant from the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD), she travelled to Europe to study at the Hochschule for Musik in Munich with Kammersängerin Reri Grist. Since 1998 a student of Kammersängerin Brigitte Eisenfeld, she lives with her family in Basiglio, Italy, a small village south of Milan.

Debussy’s La Mer concludes the program. La mer is widely regarded as one of the greatest orchestral works of the twentieth century, a masterpiece of suggestion and subtlety which combines unusual orchestration with daring impressionistic harmonies in its rich depiction of the ocean. While the composer called La mer "three symphonic sketches," the work is sometimes called a symphony; it consists of two powerful outer movements framing a lighter, faster piece which acts as a type of scherzo.

SHOSTAKOVICH’S FIRST
Saturday, March 19 – 8 PM
Sunday, March 20 – 2:30 PM
Antoni Wit, conductor
Jacek Muzyk, French horn

BPO principal horn Jacek Muzyk is the featured soloist in Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 – the last of Mozart’s four horn concerti which comprise a major part of the horn player’s solo repertoire. The Buffalo News said of Muzyk’s 2006 performance of the piece with the BPO: “His playing was overwhelmingly calm and even-toned. The slow movement's long, horizontal lines were softly sculpted and delicately nuanced, like an aria. The young man with the horn deserves special credit for making the last movement sound so fresh and new”

Mr. Muzyk was born and raised in Poland. He began to study French horn at the age of 18. In 2002, Mr.Muzyk moved to the United States where he played with the Houston Grand Opera and the Dallas Symphony before being appointed as the Principal Horn with the Buffalo Philharmonic.

The program opens with conductor Antoni Wit – Music Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra – leading the ensemble in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. Like other composers such as Berlioz and Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare. The work is based on three main strands of the Shakespeare story. The first strand, written in F-sharp minor, is the introduction representing the saintly Friar Laurence. The second strand indicates the tensions between the Capulets and Montagues, while a third represents the star-crossed lovers.

Maestro Wit also leads Polish composer Wojciech Kilar’s 1988 composition Orawa. While Kilar has composed music for films as diverse as Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Truman Show, his classical works have garnered him acclaim as one of Poland’s greatest composers with compositions that reference folk music and in patriotic and religious pieces that reflect the composer's deep religious faith and devotion to his country.

Shostakovich’s First Symphony completes the program. Composed as a Leningrad Conservatory graduation exercise in 1925, the First Symphony combines a number of influences from childhood fables to the works of Igor Stravinsky. The transparent and chamber-like orchestration of the First Symphony is in quite a contrast to the complex and sophisticated Mahlerian orchestrations found in many of his later symphonies, and the assurance with which the composer imagines, then realizes large-scale structure, is as impressive as his vigor and freshness of gesture.

CELESTIAL CLASSICS
Saturday, April 2 – 8 PM
Sunday, April 3 – 2:30 PM
JoAnn Falletta, conductor

Join the BPO for a musical exploration of the cosmos as JoAnn Falletta leads the ensemble in Gustav Holst’s famous orchestra suite The Planets and Mozart’s masterpiece, Symphony No. 41 in C Major, “Jupiter.”

The title “Jupiter” was added after Mozart’s death, but the reference to the supreme God of Roman Mythology and the solar system’s largest planet are more than apt. Sir George Grove of Grove’s Dictionary fame said: “it is for the finale that Mozart has reserved all the resources of his science, and all the power, which no one seems to have possessed to the same degree with himself, of concealing that science, and making it the vehicle for music as pleasing as it is learned. Nowhere has he achieved more.

“It is the greatest orchestral work of the world which preceded the French Revolution.”

Holst’s Planets are directly inspired by the movements of our immediate celestial neighbors. The piece is a seven-movement exploration of the astrological effects the planets are said to have on the human psyche based upon their astrological “character” (Earth is not included and Pluto wasn’t discovered until a more than a decade after the piece’s 1918 premiere). Certainly Holst’s most famous composition, the piece is familiar to music lovers across the globe and was used as the soundtrack for the 1983 Ken Russell documentary “The Planets.”

SAMUEL BARBER MEETS BILLY THE KID
Saturday, April 16 – 8 PM
Sunday, April 17 – 2:30 PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
Jennifer Koh, violin

Associate Conductor Matthew Kraemer makes his only M&T Bank Classics appearance of the season with a program featuring 20th Century music of the Western Hemisphere.

Music from Alberto’s Ginastera’s ballet Estancia opens the program. Inspired by his native Argentina’s pampas traditions, the music is taken from his Objective Nationalistic period which integrated Argentine folk themes in a straightforward fashion.

Miguel del Aguila’s Fall of Cuzco follows. Commissioned by the Nashville Symphony as part of the Magnum Opus project in 2009, the piece represents one of several works in recent years through which the composer has been reassessing the musical influences of his early childhood. The composer noted: “With this work I tried to re-create my fantasy of this mystical place and time, as well as give a voice to those who were silenced. The underlying theme is GOLD and its power over men and their greed.”

Del Aguila was the composer in residence at Western New York’s Chautauqua Institution in the early 2000s.

Jennifer Koh is the featured soloist in Samuel Barber’s 1939 Violin Concerto. One of the most frequently performed concertos of the 20th Century repertoire, with a third movement that its commissioner declared unplayable but that explores the brilliant, virtuostic character of the instrument.

The Birmingham (AL) News said of Koh’s performance of the concerto: “the Chicago-area native gave a performance of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto that will be long remembered for its gripping passion and unrelenting energy.”

Violinist Jennifer Koh mesmerizes audiences with the sheer intensity of her playing. As a virtuoso whose natural flair is matched with a probing intellect, Ms. Koh is committed to exploring connections between the pieces she plays, searching for similarities of voice between among composers, as well as within the works of a single composer. In the words of Allan Kozinn of The New York Times: “Jennifer Koh's violin recitals are consistently pleasing, not only because she is in command of a strong technique and a rich arsenal of tone, but also because she builds her programs thoughtfully, with a sensible balance of contemporary works and standard repertory.”

Aaron Copland’s 1938 ballet Billy the Kid provides the concert’s conclusion. A fitting bookend for the opening cowboy-themed Estancia, Billy the Kid incorporates many cowboy tunes and American folk songs in the musical structure. The ballet is one of Copland’s more popular compositions and performed regularly by major troupes.

O’RILEY RETURNS
Sat April 30, 2011 – 8 pm
Sun May 1, 2011 – 2:30 pm
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Christopher O’Riley, piano

From the Top’s Christopher O’Riley is the featured soloist in two pieces with JoAnn Falletta conducting the season’s 13th program.

Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin opens the program. Originally a suite for solo piano, Ravel orchestrated it for piano and orchestra in 1920, reaching the height of his orchestration skills in turning a very pianistic piece into a superb orchestral suite with very few hints of its origins. The orchestral version clarifies the harmonic language of the suite and brings sharpness to its classical dance rhythms; among the demands it places on the orchestra is the requirement for an oboe soloist. The BPO’s own Pierre Roy will be featured.

The BPO continues its exploration of the works of Holocaust victim Marcel Tyberg with his Second Symphony. Discovered in 2005 in the basement of Buffalo’s Enrico Mihich, the BPO and the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies has championed the re-emergence of Tyberg’s repertoire. The Second Symphony was completed in 1931. It receives its first post-war performances at these concerts.

Mr. O’Riley returns as soloist in the Grieg Piano Concerto. One of the most important of the composer’s early works – and his only Piano Concerto – it displays the obvious influence of Schumann as well as that of the folk music of his native Norway. The concerto may be familiar to fans of such television programs as The X-Files, Twin Peaks and Beauty and the Beast – being frequently used in popular culture.

Christopher O'Riley is an American classical pianist and public radio show host. He is the host of the weekly National Public Radio program From the Top, on which young musicians are heard and interviewed. The BPO has been featured on From The Top several times, the most recent appearance from Kleinhans Music Hall in March, 2009. According to its website, it is the most popular classical music show on the air today.

BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL
Fri May 13, 2011 – 10:30 am
Sat May 14, 2011 – 8 pm
Sun May 15, 2011 – 2:30 pm
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Michael Ludwig, violin

The BPO’s only three-concert Classical program on its 75th Anniversary features a world premiere and one of Beethoven’s most beloved works.

JoAnn Falletta leads the BPO in Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Sixth Symphony. Instantly familiar to generations of listeners, the work is central to the symphonic repertoire. One of the composer’s rare forays into “Program Music” – music which uses music to render an extra-musical narrative – the Sixth is broken into five movements with titles describing the scenes. The composer observed: “"It is left to the listener to find out the situations ... Anyone that has formed any idea of rural life does not need titles to imagine the composer’s intentions.”

There can be no question of the influence which inspired Morton Gould’s 1940 Stephen Foster Gallery began his frequent use of pre-existing popular music, orchestrating a number of songs by Stephen Collins Foster, who is credited by some writers as having invented American popular music. The Foster songs set for orchestra include such instantly recognizable songs as "Camptown Races," "Old Black Joe," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair," and "Oh, Susannah."

BPO Concertmaster Michael Ludwig is the featured soloist in Daron Hagen’s world premiere composition Songbook (Concerto for violin and Orchestra). The composer states: “I have been a bit reluctant to comment on my violin concerto because in my music I hope to express what perhaps cannot be truly conveyed by other means—especially words. In the case of this new violin concerto I have delved into the rich and soulful repertoire of ballads and hymns that have nurtured America’s folk and spiritual tradition and spotlight the beautiful contours of several of them, including Wayfaring Stranger, Angel Band, and Amazing Grace. Although there is no program to the piece, the violinist might be something of a “wayfaring stranger” on a journey of discovery, sharing parables and yarns on the way to an unknown destination.

VERDI’S REQUIEM
Sat June 4, 2011 – 8 pm
Sun June 5, 2011 – 2:30 pm
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
Angela Brown, soprano
Ann McMahan Quintero, mezzo-soprano
Bryan Register, tenor
Jason Grant, baritone

Giuseppe Verdi may be best known for his operas, but it is his 1874 Requiem that is a standard among choral societies and Orchestral performances. Originally developed as part of a combined requiem for the great Italian composer, Gioachino Rossini, it emerged of its own right as Verdi’s tribute to his friend, writer and humanist Alessandro Manzoni.

Throughout the work, Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts — much as he did in his operas — to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text. The terrifying (and instantly recognizable) "Dies Irae" that introduces the traditional sequence of the Latin funeral rite is repeated throughout for a sense of unity, which allows Verdi to explore the feelings of loss and sorrow as well as the human desire for forgiveness and mercy found in the intervening movements of the Requiem.

Music Director JoAnn Falletta conducts the season closing performance of the BPO’s 75th Anniversary Celebration. The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Doreen Rao, Music Director, joins the ensemble for this magnificent performance.

BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York Pops Concert Series

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN’S AMERICAN SONGBOOK
Sat September 25, 2010 – 8pm
Michael Feinstein, vocals

The Buffalo Philharmonic opens our 75th Anniversary Celebration’s BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York Pops Series with Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook, one of the premiere interpreters of American Popular Song. Performing a retrospective of music throughout the 75 years which have cemented the BPO as an integral part of Buffalo and Western New York, Feinstein showcases his commitment to American popular song, both celebrating its art and preserving its legacy for the next generation.

Feinstein, the multi-platinum selling, five-time Grammy nominated entertainer dubbed of “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook” performs approximately 150 plus shows a year have including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace.

“Crooner Michael Feinstein sings Tin Pan Alley faves, spanning from the Great Depression to the dawn of doo-wop. He waxes nostalgic about his own musical origins and the composers who penned the classics, including Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwin brothers and other 20th-century giants.” Selections include a wide array of American popular songs heard in some of the most beloved films ever made including music by George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, and many more. Join us for this special evening down memory lane of music with your BPO.

JOSE FELICIANO
Sat October 16, 2010 – 8pm
Jose Feliciano, vocals and guitar
HSBC Premier Guest Artist Sponsor

Synonymous with an international presence that has influenced popular music for more than two generations. Jose Feliciano has bridged musical styles in a way that has never been equaled. "The greatest living guitarist" was among the first Latin artists to cross over into the contemporary mainstream, earning over forty-five Gold and Platinum records; sixteen Grammy nominations, earning him eight Grammy Awards along the way.

Jose has performed with many of the top symphonic orchestras including the London Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He's appeared on major television shows worldwide; he has done a number of his own specials and his music has been featured on television, in films and on the stage. And now he joins the BPO at Kleinhans.

COUNTRY ROADS – THE MUSIC OF JOHN DENVER AND DAN FOGELBERG
Sat October 30, 2010 – 8pm
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
Bob Stillman, vocals

Celebrate two of America’s great singer songwriters with this special presentation of their music – Country Roads: The Music of John Denver and Dan Fogelberg – performed by the BPO with special guest vocalist Bob Stillman.

The songs of John Denver and Dan Fogelberg have a special association with Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. In very different ways, these two troubadours epitomized the singer-songwriter movement of the 70's that grew out of the folk scene of the previous decades. The sound common to both, based on acoustic guitar and featuring a soaring tenor voice, is the sound of an era that re-discovered the romance of natural America.

The music of John Denver spans three decades, outlasted countless musical trends, garnered numerous music awards, and earned John the title of one of the most well-loved international songwriters, performers, actors, environmentalist and humanitarians in the world. Denver recorded and released around 300 songs, of which about 200 were composed by him. Songs such as "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Rocky Mountain High", "Sunshine on My Shoulders", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", "Annie's Song" and "Calypso" have made John Denver a household name.

American singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Dan Fogelberg’s songs- "Leader of the Band," "Hard to Say," "Run for the Roses," "Same Old Lang Syne" - have become so embedded in our collective consciousness that they still resound with authentic magic and beauty years after they first emerged.

This performance represents the expansion of Ligeti Artists’ Cover Story Series into the orchestral realm. The concept of the Cover Stories Series is a celebration of the albums that launched the careers of the major Pop Icons of the US and the British Isles from the late 50's to the present with original vocal and band arrangements with the addition of full symphony orchestra. Other artists in the Cover Stories repertoire include Sweet Baby James, The Music of James Taylor which the BPO presented last season along with other greats such as Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Carol King, Bob Dylan, Peggy Lee and Simon and Garfunkel.

GERSHWIN FESTIVAL
Sat November 13, 2010 – 8pm
JoAnn Falletta, conductor

The BPO celebrates the life of George Gershwin with a Festival showcasing the diversity of this American original. Gershwin composed music for both Broadway and the classical concert hall, as well as popular songs that brought his work to an even wider public. His compositions have been used in numerous films and on television, and many became jazz standards recorded in numerous variations including such classics as “Rhapsody in Blue” and “I Got Rhythm.” These concerts will be recorded for an upcoming release on NAXOS.

BPO’s FIRST NIAGARA HOLIDAY POPS
Fri December 10 – 10:30 AM
Fri December 10 – 8PM
Sat December 11 – 8PM
Sun December 12 – 2:30PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
Doreen Rao, Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus

Western New York’s #1 Holiday Tradition! Associate Conductor Matthew Kraemer leads the BPO in an assortment of your favorite holiday music along with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus. This year the festivities start early with a Friday morning Coffee Concert! These concerts are sponsored by First Niagara Bank.

A BROADWAY VALENTINE
Sat February 12, 2011 – 8PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
Tamra Hayden, vocals
Ron Bohmer, vocals
Craig Schulman, vocals
HSBC Premier Guest Artist Sponsor

Experience the many wonders of love in this special program with the BPO featuring songs of the Broadway stage lyrically depicting the evolution of love from first meeting to marriage. Classic songs from South Pacific, Show Boat, Carousel, My Fair Lady and more provide the perfect backdrop for you and your special Valentine.

Tamra Hayden has been seen on Broadway in Les Miserables and in the National Tours of Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.

Ron Bohmer has starred on Broadway and national tour as the Phantom in The Phantom Of The Opera, Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard , as The Scarlet, Alex in Aspects Of Love, the evil Sir Percival Glyde in The Woman in White, Enjolras in Les Miserables, Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof and as Coach Bolton in the cultural phenomenon Disney’s High School Musical. He most recently starred on Broadway as Father in the critically acclaimed revival of Ragtime, a role he originated at the Kennedy Center

Craig Schulman is the only performer in the world to have performed three of the most extraordinary musical theatre characters ever written. He has appeared in the title roles of Jekyll & Hyde, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera, and nearly 2,000 performances of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, on Broadway and around the world.

THE FOUR TOPS
Sat February 26, 2011 – 8PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
Abdul “Duke” Fakir, vocals
Roquel Payton, vocals
Ronnie McNair, vocals
Theo Peoples, vocals

Among a number of groups who helped define the Motown Sound of the 1960s, The Four Tops repertoire includes a dazzling array of doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, and showtunes. Join founding member Abdul “Duke” Fakir and Roquel Payton, Ronnie McNair and Theo Peoples for an evening celebrating the great Motown Sound.

The group was the main male vocal group for the songwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who crafted a stream of hit singles, including two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" and "Reach Out I'll Be There". Experience these classics and other favorites like “Baby, I Need Your Lovin’”, “It’s the Same Old Song” and “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I Got” at Kleinhans with the BPO.

CHERISH THE LADIES
Sat March 26, 2011 –8PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
Joanie Madden, flute, whistle and vocals
Mary Coogan, guitar, mandolin and banjo
Roisín Dillon, fiddle
Michelle Burke, vocals
Mirella Murray, accordion
Kathleen Boyle, piano

Cherish the Ladies is an all-female Irish-American super group. The band began as a concert series in New York in January of 1985, the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in America. Over the course of the past twenty five years, the band have played in the finest concert halls and have performed in North and South America, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Their shows are always accompanied by world class step dancers on stage.

When describing Cherish the Ladies – the critics say it best… "It is simply impossible to imagine an audience that wouldn’t enjoy what they do", the Boston Globe, "An astonishing array of virtuosity", the Washington Post, "Expands the annals of Irish music in America…the music is passionate, tender and rambunctious", The New York Times and for the past twenty two years, Cherish the Ladies have proven themselves worthy to live up to these accolades and in doing so have become one of the most engaging ensembles in the history of Irish music.

FUNNY GIRL IN CONCERT
Sat April 9, 2011 – 8PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
Michele Ragusa, vocals
HSBC Premier Guest Artist Sponsor

Buffalo’s own Michele Ragusa takes the stage as Fanny Brice, the role popularized by Barbra Streisand on both stage and screen, in a concert setting of the story based on the life and career of the star of Broadway and cinema.

Michelle Ragusa – fresh from her standout performance at the 2009 Holiday Pops and 2010’s The Music Man In Concert – takes the title role and Associate Conductor Matthew Kraemer leads the Orchestra.

Michele Ragusa received her BFA from Niagara University and comes directly from a highly regarded production of “Into The Woods” directed by Moises Kaufman, playing the Witch. Prior to that, she starred in the Broadway production of Mel Brook’s “Young Frankenstein” in the role of Elizabeth, succeeding Megan Mullally.

ABBA: THE HITS SYMPHONIC TOUR
Sat May 7, 2011 –8PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
HSBC Premier Guest Artist Sponsor

Get your dancing shoes on! Come to Kleinhans to experience the music of ABBA and their greatest hits played live by a band which does not only sound like ABBA but also resembles them, spiced with the sound of your Buffalo Philharmonic. 'ABBA - The Hits Symphonic Tour' performed by the Swedish cover band Waterloo together with The BPO tells the musical story of ABBA through their greatest hits such as "Dancing Queen", “Waterloo”, “Fernando”, Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “Mamma Mia”. Seen and praised by thousands of people who have already taken the trip from 1969 to 1981 come experience a celebration of one of the greatest pop bands of all times.

“It is not even necessary to be an ABBA fan to let both your eyes and your ears, and maybe also your heart, enjoy this show. I hope the original four ABBAs see The Music and become proud. They could hardly have done it better themselves.” - Jyllandsposten (Denmark)

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR
Sat May 28, 2011 –8PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor

Celebrate America on Memorial Day weekend! Join Associate Conductor Matthew Kraemer and the BPO performing a star spangled selection of songs sure to put you in the patriotic mood as we honor our service men and women and prepare for another great Western New York summer!

DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA
Sat June 11, 2011 –8PM
Matthew Kraemer, conductor

Duke Ellington became one of the most influential artists in the history of recorded music, and is largely recognized as one of the greatest figures in the history of jazz, though his music stretched into various other genres, including blues, gospel, movie soundtracks, popular, and classical. His career spanned 50 years and included leading his orchestra, composing an inexhaustible songbook, scoring for movies, and world tours. Since his death in 1974, the Duke Ellington Orchestra has continued to preserve the legacy of one of America’s great composers. Come experience living history at Kleinhans with the BPO!