SOLOISTS AND CONDUCTORS
SOLOISTS & CONDUCTORS JOANN FALLETTA, BMC Principal Guest Conductor JoAnn Falletta is internationally celebrated as a vibrant ambassador for music, an inspiring artistic leader, and a champion of American symphonic music. An effervescent and exuberant figure on the podium, she has been 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.” Acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation”, she serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center, and music advisor to the Hawaii Symphony. Ms. Falletta is invited to guest conduct many of the world’s finest symphony orchestras. Recent guest conducting highlights include debuts in Belgrade, Gothenburg, Lima, Bogotá, Helsingborg, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, a European tour with the Stuttgart Orchestra, return engagements with the Warsaw, Detroit, Phoenix, and Krakow Symphony Orchestras and a 13 city US tour with the Irish Chamber Orchestra with James Galway. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2015-16 Season celebrated the 75th anniversary of Kleinhans Music Hall, with major guest artists such as Lang Lang, Chris Botti and Andre Watts, and works showcasing the hall’s exquisite acoustics. Ms. Falletta’s growing discography, which currently includes over 90 titles, consists of recordings with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Czech National Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony London Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Netherlands Radio Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony, Philadelphia Philharmonia, Prague Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Virginia Symphony and the Women’s Philharmonic. Her recording with the Buffalo Philharmonic and soprano, Hila Plitmann of Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man received two Grammy Awards in 2009. Grammy nominated discs include her recordings with the Buffalo Philharmonic of Tyberg’s Symphony No. 3, Corigliano’s Red Violin, Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, Strauss’s Rosenkavalier, and Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Song. In her role as Principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra from 2011-2014, Ms. Falletta recorded 6 CDs for the Naxos returning the orchestra to its renowned recording history. In addition to her current posts with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, Brevard Music Center and Hawaii Symphony, Ms. Falletta has held the positions of principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, music director of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the Denver Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Falletta, elected in 2016 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, received her undergraduate degree from the Mannes College of Music in New York and her master’s and doctorate degrees from The Juilliard School.
KEN LAM, BMC Resident Conductor Ken Lam is Music Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Associate Professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey, and Artistic Director of Hong Kong Voices. In 2011 Mr. Lam won the Memphis Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition and was a featured conductor in the League of American Orchestra’s 2009 Bruno Walter National Conductors Preview with the Nashville Symphony. He made his US professional debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in June 2008 as one of four conductors selected by Leonard Slatkin. In recent seasons he has led performances with the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Pops, Baltimore, Detroit, Memphis, Illinois, and Meridian, as well as the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. In opera, he has led critically acclaimed productions at Spoleto Festival USA, Lincoln Center Festival, and at the Luminato Festival in Canada and has directed numerous productions of the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard. Ken Lam studied conducting with Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar at Peabody Conservatory, David Zinman and Murry Sidlin at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, and Leonard Slatkin at the National Conducting Institute. Previous conducting positions include Associate Conductor for Education of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He read economics and law at St. John’s College, Cambridge University, and previously spent ten years as an attorney specializing in international finance. Mr. Lam was the recipient of the 2015 Johns Hopkins University Global Achievement Award.
DR. KRAIG ALAN WILLIAMS, Director, Brevard Symphonic Winds Dr. Kraig Alan Williams is currently the Director of Bands, Associate Professor of Music, and Director of the Wind Studies Program at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. His duties include the artistic guidance of the Grammy-nominated Rutgers Wind Ensemble and administration of all aspects of a large, dynamic, and comprehensive university band program. Other responsibilities include teaching graduate and undergraduate conducting and the mentoring of Master’s and Doctoral students in Wind Studies. Maintaining an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician and lecturer, Williams has appeared in those capacities in more than 15 states and with such prominent ensembles as the Dallas Wind Symphony and The United States Air Force Band. Williams has conducted performances in Graz, Budapest, Malta, Marktoberdorf, and Prague. He has performed in Carnegie Hall, conducted live radio broadcasts on NPR and has recorded for Mark Records, Albany Records, and ADK in Prague, Czech Republic.
2016 Summer Institute & Festival
123