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History
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
The world-renowned Buffalo Philharmonic was founded in 1935. Since 1940, the Orchestra's permanent home has been Kleinhans Music Hall, a National Historic Site with an international reputation as one of the finest
concert halls in the United States. It was designed by Eliel and Eero Saarinen with F.J. and W.A Kidd, architects.
Over the decades, the BPO has matured in stature under the batons of some of the leading stars
of the podium. William Steinberg, Josef Krips, Lukas Foss, Michael Tilson Thomas, Maximiano Valdez, Semyon Bychkov and Julius Rudel are among the luminaries who have served as music directors of the Buffalo Philharmonic.
As Buffalo's cultural ambassador, the BPO has toured widely across the United States and Canada, including concerts at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Boston's Symphony Hall, San Francisco's Davies Hall,
Montreal's Place des Arts, and twenty-two appearances in Carnegie Hall. The Buffalo Philharmonic also made two national tours under famed Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, as well as a highly successful European
tour under Semyon Bychkov. Currently, the Orchestra presents more than one hundred 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. |
