Bill Text: VA HR333 | 2019 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending JoAnn Falletta.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-20 - Bill text as passed House (HR333ER) [HR333 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HR333-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta will retire as music director of the Virginia Symphony in June 2020 after 29 years of service; and
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 28 years, while also serving with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and as 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 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 100 orchestras in North America, including the orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Seattle, San Diego, Detroit, New Jersey, Montreal, Toronto, and the National Symphony, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa; 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, Beijing Symphony, Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester BBC Philharmonic, Scottish BBC Orchestra, Orchestra National de Lyon, Mannheim Orchestra, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, the Ulster 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 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016, joining an esteemed roster that dates back to the Academy's founding in 1780; 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; she has been honored with three Grammy Awards and 10 nominations and 11 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Awards; and
WHEREAS, JoAnn Falletta has recorded more than 115 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 29-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, That JoAnn Falletta hereby be commended on the occasion of her final season with 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 House of Delegates' admiration for her many accomplishments.
