JoAnn's Classical Corner LIVE
About this Event
BTPM Classical welcomes JoAnn Falletta, Conductor and Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, to present JoAnn's Classical Corner LIVE, hosted by BTPM Classical's Mark Swarts.
Listeners like you have regularly tuned in to BTPM Classical every weekday at 8:30 a.m. to hear JoAnn, alongside morning host Mark Swarts, as she shares BPO season highlights and her expert insights on the world of classical music. Now, you have a chance to experience JoAnn's Classical Corner LIVE as they record from Buffalo Toronto Public Media's Studio 1 during this exclusive event!
Joined by husband and producer Robert Alemany, Falletta will take the stage with Swarts to record five unique episodes. Together, they'll answer questions from the studio audience and share behind-the-scenes stories and secrets of how JoAnn's Classical Corner is put together and produced.
As each musical selection is presented, accompanying art images curated by JoAnn will be displayed on our big studio screen, making this a multimedia event not to be missed!
Each ticket includes a copy of Falletta's recently released Naxos CD with the BPO, The French in Spain (Ravel, Ibert and Debussy). This album presents orchestral works by the three French composers, who saw Spain as a paradise of warmth, fragrance and color, whether real or imagined.
As BTPM Classical gears up to celebrate fifty years of music to your ears, the station invites you to be a part of its history!
Doors open at 1:30pm, and free parking is available in our gated lot. Please note "JoAnn's Classical Corner LIVE" is restricted to ages 16 and over, due to the live recording nature of this event.
Photo credit: Heather Bellini
Biography - JoAnn Falletta
Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center, and Conductor Laureate of the Hawaii Symphony. Named as one of the 50 great conductors of all time by Gramophone Magazine and among the top 10 conductors today by David Hurwitz of ClassicsToday.com, she is hailed for her work as a conductor, recording artist, audience builder, and champion of American composers.
As Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra and has been credited with bringing the Philharmonic to an unprecedented level of national and international prominence. The Buffalo Philharmonic has become one of the leading recording orchestras for Naxos, with two GRAMMY Award-winning recordings and a 2024 Best Orchestral Performance GRAMMY nomination for Alexander Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy and Symphony No. 2 (Naxos).
Internationally, Falletta has conducted many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, and South America, including recent and upcoming concerts in France, England, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Croatia, and Mexico. Her recent and upcoming North American guest conducting includes the National Symphony, the orchestras of Dallas, Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Nashville, Indianapolis, Houston, Milwaukee, Calgary, Vancouver, Quebec, Tulsa, Charleston, Nashville, and Rochester, and at premier conservatories including Juilliard, Curtis, Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, the Manhattan School, Mannes, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
With a discography of over 125 titles, Falletta is a leading recording artist for Naxos. She has won two individual GRAMMY Awards, including the 2021 GRAMMY Award for Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua with the BPO and the 2019 GRAMMY for Spiritualist by Kenneth Fuchs with the London Symphony, both on Naxos. Her BPO recording of John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan received two GRAMMYs in 2008, and her 2020 Naxos recording with the BPO of orchestral music of Florent Schmitt received the prestigious Diapason d’Or Award.
Falletta is a member of the esteemed American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has served by Presidential appointment as a Member of the National Council on the Arts during the Bush and Obama administrations, and is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards. She has conducted over 1,600 orchestral works by more than 600 composers, 135 works by more than 70 women composers, and well over 150 U.S. and world premieres. ASCAP has honored her as “a leading force for music of our time.” In 2019, Falletta was named Performance Today’s first Classical Woman of the Year, and in 2024, the Dallas Symphony announced that she will receive their Award of Excellence.
After earning her bachelor’s degree at Mannes, Falletta received master’s and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School. When not on the podium, JoAnn enjoys playing classical guitar, writing, cycling, yoga, and is an avid reader.
Biography - Mark Swarts
Mark Swarts is BTPM Classical’s morning host from 6 to 11am. Previously, he was one of the hosts for BTPM Classical's evening program.
Mark began working at BTPM Classical in January 2017 after a 37 year hiatus from radio broadcasting. He had previously worked as Production Director and morning DJ at WWOL and WACJ, then transitioned into Software Engineering.
His love for music began as a young child listening to records and playing piano. He also performed in chorus and a cappella groups, including a community barbershop quartet.
Swarts is thrilled to be hosting mornings on BTPM Classical. “There’s nothing better than a cup of dark roast and Mozart in morning!” he says.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 55.14
