National honor for Virginia Symphony Orchestra musical director JoAnn Falletta

May 10, 2016

JoAnn Falletta has just completed her 25th season as musical director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Her work here has been exemplary, and it has not gone unnoticed.

Falletta, who is also musical director of the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra, learned last month that she has been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She will be formally inducted Oct. 8 in Cambridge, Mass.

How esteemed is her company? Well, the Academy dates back to 1780. Its members include several presidents, about 250 Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners, and random folks such as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Academy president Jonathan F. Fanton, in a news release, noted that contemporary inductees “represent today’s innovative thinkers in every field and profession.”

Falletta is a very impressive lady, and if all you know about her is her work with the Virginia Symphony, you’re only getting part of the story. To learn a little more about her musical chops, go to Norfolk Academy 8 p.m. May 18. As part of the Virginia Arts Festival, she will be playing guitar along with the Tidewater Classical Guitar Orchestra. Admission is $35.