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2016 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 285
Commending JoAnn Falletta.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 12, 2016
Agreed to by the Senate, February 18, 2016

 

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta is internationally celebrated as a vibrant ambassador for music, an inspiring artistic leader, and a champion of American symphonic music; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta received her undergraduate degree from the Mannes School of Music of the New School in New York and her master’s and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta has served as music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra for 25 years, while also serving with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of both the Phoenix Symphony and the Brevard Music Center; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta has been acclaimed as an effervescent and exuberant figure on the podium, praised by the Washington Post as having “Toscanini’s tight control over ensemble, Walter’s affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski's gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein”; she has also been acclaimed by the New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation”; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta has been invited to guest conduct more than a hundred orchestras in North America, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa, including the orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Seattle, San Diego, Montreal, Toronto, and the National Symphony; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta has made international appearances with the London Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Korean Broadcast Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, China National Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester BBC Philharmonic, Scottish BBC Orchestra, Orchestra National de Lyon, Mannheim Orchestra, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, and at numerous music festivals, including Aspen, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Wolf Trap, Mann Center, Meadow Brook, OK Mozart Festival, Grand Teton Festival, and the Brevard Festival; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards, including the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award, the coveted Stokowski Competition award, and the Toscanini, Ditson and Bruno Walter Awards for conducting, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra League’s prestigious John S. Edwards Award; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta is an ardent champion of modern composers, introducing more than 500 works by American composers, including more than 110 world premieres, making her a “leading force for the music of our time”; she has been honored with two Grammy awards and six nominations and 11 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers awards; and

WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta has recorded more than 75 titles, including the double Grammy award-winning disc of works by John Corigliano and other Grammy-nominated discs of works of Tyberg, Dohnányi, Fuchs, Schubert, Respighi, Gershwin, Hailstork, and Holst; and

WHEREAS, during her 25-year tenure, JoAnn Falletta has helped the Virginia Symphony Orchestra earn international recognition and a ranking in the top 10 percent of all American orchestras, with performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York City; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend JoAnn Falletta for her work to enrich the Commonwealth through the joys of fine orchestral music as music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to JoAnn Falletta as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for her exceptional contributions to the cultural landscape of the Commonwealth and the United States.