JoAnn Falletta will serve as principal guest conductor and artistic advisor at the Omaha Symphony starting next season.

JoAnn Falletta will join the Omaha Symphony as principal guest conductor and artistic advisor beginning in the 2025-26 season. Faletta is currently music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, a post she will retain. She will lead the Omaha Symphony as it undertakes a search for a successor to Ankush Kumar Bahl, who steps down as music director and transitions to the role of artistic partner at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. “In her past visits here as guest conductor, most recently in 2021, the chemistry between Maestro Falletta and the orchestra was dynamic, and we are excited that she will join with us in such a significant role,” said Omaha Symphony President and CEO Jennifer Boomgaarden Daoud. Falletta will lead concerts, assist in developing programming, recommend guest conductors and guest artists, and help the orchestra maintain a consistent artistic profile. In addition to serving as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Falletta is music director laureate of the Virginia Symphony, principal guest conductor of the Brevard Music Center, and conductor laureate of the Hawai‘i Symphony. She has guest-conducted orchestras throughout North America, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, and South America. Read Symphony’s recent profile of Falletta here.