Donald K. Boswell, President and CEO of WNED, announced The JoAnn Falletta Story, a new, two-hour music and biography radio special produced by Classical 94.5/WNED. The program will recognize and celebrate JoAnn Falletta’s 10th Anniversary as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO). It premieres Wednesday, September 24 at 6 pm and will be rebroadcast Friday, Sept. 26 at 10 am and Sunday, Sept. 28 at 6 pm. (The air dates coincide with the BPO’s 2008 season Opening Night concert with violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman on Sept. 27.)

“There are a lot of musical icons, but JoAnn Falletta clearly is ours,” said Gabe DiMaio, Classical 94.5/WNED Program Director. “This is a personal story about JoAnn Falletta’s journey that goes behind the podium.”

Listeners will follow the musical journey of this classical guitarist from Queens, discovering what inspires her as an artist and what music has influenced her. The story will unfold through interview segments woven around pieces of music that have significance in Falletta’s life.

Classical 94.5/WNED Program Host Peter Hall interviews Falletta; he produced the special with colleague Jim Berryman. “JoAnn Falletta makes it fun to attend live BPO performances” says Hall, who also hosts Classical 94.5’s weekly program Philharmonic Friday. “She is so down-to-earth that it’s easy to forget that she is one of the most in-demand conductors on the international circuit.  I’m glad more people will get to know the extraordinarily talented and gracious Music Director of the BPO.”

The New York Times lauded Falletta as “one of the finest conductors of her generation.” She is the namesake as well as an ardent supporter of Buffalo’s biennial JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, presented by WNED and the BPO.