The New York Times acclaimed JoAnn Falletta ‘one of the finest conductors of her generation’ and was recently named one of the “Fifty Great Conductors”, past and present, by Gramophone Magazine. With her appointment as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Ms. Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American ensemble and is credited with bringing that orchestra to an “unprecedented level of national and international prominence”. Internationally, she has made conducting appearances in Europe, Asia, South America, Poland and Sweden. Her mentors include Leonard Bernstein, Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling and Semyon Byychkov. She has led seminars for women conductors and has had great success working with young musicians conducting at the top conservatories such as The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of music, Mannes, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Under her direction, the Buffalo Symphony has won 2 Grammys and is one of the leading recording orchestras for the Naxos label. She has introduced over 600 works by American composers.