University of Florida Performing Arts

Did you know…

The world-renowned Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) was founded in 1935. Since 1940 the Orchestra’s permanent home has been Kleinhans Music Hall, a National Historic Site with an international reputation as one of the finest concert halls in the United States.

Acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation”, JoAnn Falletta serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

During the tenure of JoAnn Falletta, the BPO has rekindled its distinguished history of PBS broadcasts and recordings, including the release of eight new CDs of a highly diverse repertoire.

For the first time in its history, a recording by the BPO received a double Grammy Award. The world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man was honored for Best Classical Vocal Performance and Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Ms. Falletta is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards, including the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award, the Stokowski Competition, the Toscanini, Ditson and Bruno Walter Awards and the American Symphony Orchestra League’s John S. Edwards Award.

As Buffalo’s cultural ambassador, the BPO has toured widely across the United States and Canada, including concerts at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Boston’s Symphony Hall, San Francisco’s Davies Hall, Montreal’s Place des Arts, and twenty-two appearances in Carnegie Hall.

At the age of five he was given his first piano lessons and already half year later he played his first public concert and six months later gave his first public concert. 

After winning top prizes in international piano competitions, his sensational success at the Busoni and at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition opened doors for him to a constantly growing international career.

Fabio Bidini now is recognized as one of the foremost young pianist to have emerged from Italy since the days of Michelangeli. 

Fabio Bidini is a frequent guest of the best orchestras worldwide (San Francisco Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philharmonia Orchestra of London, BBC Orchestra Wales) and plays in the world´s most famous halls (Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center Philadelphia, Kennedy-Center Washington, Royal Festival Hall, Davies Hall, Rudolfinum, Auditorio Nacionál-Madrid, Auditorio de Zaragoza, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, among others).