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John Landis Celebrates 20 Years As Conductor & Music Director
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John Landis, a native of Chicago, was raised in Cleveland. He studied piano, trumpet, timpani, theory and conducting there and at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. While at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, he was a member of the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Eastman Philharmonia, and often appeared as a conductor of light operas. His principal conducting teachers have been John Farinacci, Orien Dalley, George Szell, Howard Hanson, Frederick Fennell and Josef Blatt.
After military service spent with the U.S. Air Force musical units in Washington, Mr. Landis headed to New York for a position as conductor and tour manager for the Boris Goldovsky Opera Theatre. From 1970 to 1983 he was associated with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra as a conductor, orchestrator, percussionist and keyboard player. He also taught at the University of Buffalo and was Music Director of the Niagara Falls Philharmonic and the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra.
He spent seven years in New Mexico, where he was a University music professor, a frequent conductor of opera and ballet throughout the southwest and California, and Program Director for classical radio station KHFM. He returned to Buffalo in 1990 as a Program Host/Announcer for WNED-FM, Western New York’s 24-hour public classical music station. Until his February, 2009 retirement, he was WNED's afternoon drive-time host, the host and resident critic of the station's Sunday afternoon new releases program What's New? and music adviser for Music from Chautauqua. In 2006 and 2008, he was on the panel of judges for the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition.
He has been conductor/music director of the Cheektowaga Community Symphony Orchestra since 1991. |
