JoAnn Falletta to speak at CNU

News Release - Oct. 27, 2006

Public's contact for publication:
Brian Larson
President's Leadership Program
(757) 594-8877
blarson@cnu.edu

Media contact:
Karen L. Gill
Office of Communications and Public Relations
(757) 594-8428

(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — Music Director and Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra JoAnn Falletta will speak at Christopher Newport University on Nov. 13. Her speech, which is at 7 p.m. in the Music and Theatre Hall of the Ferguson Center for the Arts, is free and open to the public.

Hailed by The New York Times as “... one of the finest conductors of her generation,” Falletta holds the positions of Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Advisor to the Honolulu Symphony.

An effervescent and exuberant figure on the podium, she has been praised by the Washington Post as having “Toscanini’s tight control over ensemble, Walter’s affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski’s gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein.”

Falletta's speech is part of the 2006-2007 President’s Leadership Speaker Series at CNU, which brings to campus great leaders whose lives reflect the qualities that the University endeavors to impart to students each day – a commitment to excellence, a willingness to engage and lead and a passion for making the world a better place.

Claude A. S. “Chip” Hornsby III, group CEO of Wolseley plc, gave the first speech of this year's series on Sept. 7, and General J. H. Binford “Binnie” Peay III, superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, spoke on Oct. 3.

Other upcoming speakers in the series are:

• Feb. 8: Hon. John O. Marsh Jr., Secretary of the Army (Ret.) and former U.S. Congressman (1962-1971); and Hon. G. William Whitehurst, former U.S. Congressman (1969-1987) and Kaufman Lecturer in Public Affairs, Old Dominion University.
• March 13: C. Larry Pope, President and CEO, Smithfield Foods, Inc.
  
• April 25: William P. “Bill” Magee Jr., co-founder and CEO, Operation Smile; and Kathleen S. “Kathy” Magee, co-founder and president, Operation Smile

For more information on the President's Leadership Speaker Series at CNU, please contact Brian Larson, director of the President's Leadership Program, at (757) 594-8877 or blarson@cnu.edu.