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Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, WNED PBS present weekly televised musician portraits hosted by BPO Music Director JoAnn Falletta

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Thu, Jun 4th 2020 04:15 pm

The BPO and JoAnn Falletta have partnered with WNED PBS Buffalo Toronto Public Media to present “BPO Musician Portraits with JoAnn Falletta,” a four-part musical showcase of television specials on WNED PBS featuring select musicians from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

These intimate concerts, introduced by Falletta, feature performances from principal cellist Roman Mekinulov and pianist Eric Huebner, cellist Feng Hew and violinist Shieh-Jian Tsai, harpist Madeline Olson, and BPO concertmaster Nikki Chooi. 

A press release said, “The televised performances expand upon the long-time partnership between the two organizations as another avenue for ensuring that music can continue to lift our spirits, as well as reaffirm the commitment both organizations have as major stakeholders in the Buffalo cultural community and Western New York at large. The series allows the community to continue to enjoy the music of the BPO even while the pandemic prevents in-person concerts.”

The weekly broadcasts of previously recorded BPO concerts on Buffalo Toronto Public Media’s WNED Classical radio station will continue at 7 p.m. Tuesdays through the end of July.

WNED PBS will premiere the half-hour “BPO Musician Portraits with JoAnn Falletta” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 15, with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata, featuring Mekinulov and Huebner. The recordings are being created at WNED PBS studios following social distancing protocols in order to offer these special performances to the public.

Future broadcasts will air at 7:30 p.m. each Monday through July 6 on WNED PBS. They will include Chooi performing Bach’s Chaconne, Massenet’s Meditation from Thais, and excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake; Hew and Tsai performing works by Beethoven, Bach and Glière; and Olson presenting five works for harp. As an added bonus, a marathon of all four episodes will run from 4-6 p.m. Sunday, July 5, on WNED PBS.

For more information, visit bpo.org.

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