Twenty-five years have passed since JoAnn Falletta took over the Virginia Symphony as its music director.
Highlights of her career in Hampton Roads include the first visit engagement by a Virginia orchestra at New York's Carnegie Hall (in 1997), and performances of all the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, the biggest of which are rarely essayed by orchestras outside the major league.
Falletta, who is also music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic and a guest conductor with a worldwide itinerary, has become one of the most prominent female conductors, and is one of the most persuasive “mainstream” conductors in performing new or neglected music.
The 61-year-old Falletta looks back, and ahead, in an interview with Rashod Ollison of The Virginian-Pilot:
http://hamptonroads.com/2015/01/vso-conductor-enjoys-25-years-hampton-roads