The month of May might seem far away, but not for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The BPO has launched "All Roads Lead to Carnegie Hall," a fundraising effort to generate sponsors for it's May 8 performance in New York City. "May 8th is a night we are thinking a lot about already," said BPO music director JoAnn Falletta.
Falletta said the BPO's planned performance at Carnegie Hall is a community project. The Orchestra is calling on business and the community to support their funding effort.
"Buffalo and the whole Western New York region going with us to Carnegie and supporting us there, and being proud that we can be musical ambassadors for our city," said Falletta.
The BPO says it needs to raise about $600,000 to pay for the May 8 performance. They are also trying to sell more than 1,300 tickets to the show. There are 2,800 total seats. Big corporate sponsors include M & T Bank and Rich Products.
Rich Products Vice president Howard Rich says the company has no problem backing the event.
"Because of the heritage of both Rich Products and the BPO this really makes a lot of sense. They're in the arts, we're in the sports, and to support each other is a great opportunity," said Rich.
Visit Buffalo Niagara is also lend its support. Vice president of marketing Edward Healy says the group will host of series of media events surrounding the concert.
"We are going to hitch our wagon to their star," said Healy. "We're going to get people that have Buffalo connections, Buffalo roots and the extended Buffalo nation that is out there in the world to really pay attention to what's going on back home to a certain degree."
This is not the first time the BPO has played at Carnegie Hall. The Orchestra has appeared 23 other times, but it is the first since 2004.
Falletta says she is preparing works by two Russian composers that are rarely performed.