BPO Board of Trustees/BPO Foundation Board Directors

BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

BOARD OF TRUSTEES AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

OFFICERS

John R. Yurtchuk, Chair Scott Stenclik, Vice Chair — Chair-Elect Angelo Fatta, Treasurer Peter Eliopoulos, Secretary

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Cindy Abbott Letro Douglas Bean Jonathan Borden † Janz Castelo † Anne Conable Stephen B. Edge, MD* JoAnn Falletta* Amy Habib Rittling Daniel Hart* Jim Hettich Mark Hodges † James Iglewski William Keefer Ronald Luczak Alex Montante Allan C. Ripley* Casimiro D. Rodriguez, Sr. Rev. Melody I. Rutherford Diana Sachs † Robin G. Schulze, Ph.D Joseph Sedita Brett Shurtliffe † Sonny Sonnenstein Karen Sperrazza Christine Standish Rev. Jonathan Staples Stephen T. Swift John Zak*

*ex-officio † musician representatives

LIFE MEMBERS

Anthony Cassetta Randall Odza Edwin Polokoff John N. Walsh, III Robert G. Weber

BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA FOUNDATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

John J. Zak, Chair Holly Hejmowski, Treasurer Alexs Spellman, Secretary Michael Munschauer Karen Arrison John Yurtchuk

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL

PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR

A master of American musical style, John Morris Russell has devoted himself to redefining the American orchestral experience. He is in his fifth season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Russell made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the fall of 2014, and later that season was named the third conductor to hold the position following in the footsteps of Doc Severinsen and Marvin Hamlisch. Mr. Russell’s concerts at the BPO reflect the diversity of American musical styles: from Classics to Jazz, Hollywood to Broadway, Country&Western to Rhythm&Blues. This season, Mr. Russell conducts Motown, Broadway, Holiday concerts, and Star Wars.

Maestro Russell is also Conductor of the renowned Cincinnati Pops, one of the world’s most iconic and beloved pops orchestras. With his position at The Pops, Mr. Russell leads soldout performances at Cincinnati Music Hall, the Taft Theater, and Riverbend Music Center; additionally, he conducts the orchestra in concerts throughout the Greater Cincinnati region as well as domestic and international tours. Creator of the orchestra’s Classical Roots series, he also conducts the Pops family concert series and the annual USO Tribute Cincinnati Gala. The Cincinnati Pops recorded legacy continues under Mr. Russell’s leadership. He led the Cincinnati Pops on their first-ever Florida tour, and in 2017 he led the orchestra’s sixth tour to Asia including performances in Shanghai and Taipei.

For the last nine seasons, Mr. Russell has served as Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, and conductor of the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Under his leadership, the HHSO has enjoyed unprecedented artistic growth. Mr. Russell leads the orchestra in masterwork subscription concerts annually.

Between 2001-2012 Maestro Russell served as Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where he fostered a decade of unprecedented artistic growth. He led the WSO in seventeen national broadcasts on CBC Radio 2, and the orchestra’s first nationally televised production for the CBC series Opening Night, which received the orchestra’s first Gemini Award Nomination. Maestro Russell was named Conductor Laureate of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in 2012.

As a guest conductor, John Morris Russell has worked with many of North America’s most distinguished ensembles. He has served as Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony, Associate Conductor of the Savannah Symphony Orchestra, Director of the Orchestral Program at Vanderbilt University, and Music Director with the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, Massachusetts. He received a Master of Music degree in conducting from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Williams College in Massachusetts. He has also studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.

JAMAN E. DUNN

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR

Jaman E. Dunn is currently the Assistant Conductor with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Artistic Director of the Buffalo Master Chorale, and the Founder and Music Director of the Polaris Orchestra. A native of Chicago, IL, he attended The Ohio State University for his undergraduate studies, earning a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance under the study of Dr. C. Andrew Blosser. Mr. Dunn earned his Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting under the instruction of Maestro Bruce Hangen at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

In addition to his orchestral activities, Mr. Dunn has also maintained a vocal career which began during his time in central Ohio. With a strong focus on oratorio and sacred music, Mr. Dunn has been Bass Soloist for performances of the Requiems of Mozart and Verdi, Handel’s Messiah, Gounod’s St Cecilia Mass, Schubert’s Mass in E ; Jesus in Bach’s St. John Passion; and Baritone Soloist in Carmina Burana. He has also been a part of opera productions including Falstaff, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, La Traviata, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor.

In a professional capacity, it is Mr. Dunn’s continued goal to raise awareness of African-American performers in classical music at all levels and in all mediums.

HISTORY OF

THE BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

As Buffalo’s cultural ambassador, the Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Music Director JoAnn Falletta presents more than 120 Classics, Pops, Rock, Family and Youth concerts each year. After the rise and fall of several forerunners, the BPO was founded in 1935, performing most often at the Elmwood Music Hall, which was located at Elmwood Ave. and Virginia St., and demolished in 1938 as its permanent home, Kleinhans Music Hall, was constructed. During the Great Depression, the orchestra was initially supported by funds from the Works Progress Administration and the Emergency Relief Bureau. Over the decades, the orchestra has matured in stature under outstanding conductors including William Steinberg, Josef Krips, Lukas Foss, Michael Tilson Thomas, Maximiano Valdes, Semyon Bychkov and Julius Rudel. The orchestra has welcomed many distinguished guest performers, such as Isaac Stern, Aaron Copland, Van Cliburn, Igor Stravinsky, Renee Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma. During the tenure of JoAnn Falletta, who has served as music director since 1998, the BPO has rekindled its history of radio broadcasts and recordings, including the release of 51 new CDs. The BPO’s Naxos recording of composer John Corigliano’s “Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan,” won two Grammys. Our recordings are heard on classical radio worldwide.

HISTORY OF

KLEINHANS MUSIC HALL

Since 1940, the orchestra’s home has been Kleinhans Music Hall, which enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest concert halls in the world due to its superb acoustics. Kleinhans Music Hall was built thanks to the generosity and vision of Edward and Mary Seaton Kleinhans and the stewardship of their charitable dreams by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and the support of the federal government. The Community Foundation was bequeathed the estates of Mr. and Mrs. Kleinhans, who made their fortune from the clothing store that bore their name, and who died within three months of each other in 1934. The Public Works Administration, an agency of the New Deal, provided crucial funding that made it possible to complete the hall. The Kleinhans, who were music lovers, specified their money was to be used “to erect a suitable music hall…for the use, enjoyment and benefit of the people of the City of Buffalo.” The BPO performed at Kleinhans Music Hall’s official opening on Oct. 12, 1940, under the baton of Franco Autori. Kleinhans Music Hall was designed by the Finnish father-and-son team of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, along with architects F.J. and W.A. Kidd. Kleinhans is known for its combination of graceful structural beauty and extraordinary acoustics. Eliel Saarinen’s aim was to create “an architectural atmosphere…so as to tune the performers and the public alike into a proper mood of performance and receptiveness, respectively.” In 1989, the hall was designated a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation of significance a site or structure can receive. Kleinhans is owned by the City of Buffalo but operated by a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Its Board of Directors is Jeremy Oczek, chair; Karen Arrison, vice chair; Stephanie Simeon, secretary and treasurer; Cindy Abbott Letro; Peter Eliopoulos; Tania Werbizky; and city officials including Byron Brown, Mayor of the City of Buffalo, and David Rivera, Niagara District Councilmember.