The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) concert season is starting, and it includes a student pass deal. For $30, any student younger than 30 can purchase a pass that will entitle them to attend unlimited Classics and Pops concerts all season long. Individual concert tickets are also available to students for $11 with valid ID.

“It is hands-down, the best offer we have available for anybody,” said Kate Mocker Jenkins, communications coordinator for the BPO.

The BPO began in 1935, and has served as a major cultural impact for Buffalo. JoAnn Valletta is the music director of the Grammy Award winning orchestra, which presents more than 120 Classics, Pops, Rock, Kids and Youth concerts each year. The BPO performed at the Elmwood Music Hall, which was located at Elmwood Avenue and Virginia Street until it was demolished in 1938.

During the Great Depression, the orchestra was initially supported by funds from the Works Progress Administration and the Emergency Relief Bureau.

Since 1940, the orchestra’s permanent home has been Kleinhans Music Hall, a National Historic Landmark designed by Eliel and Eero Saarinen with an international reputation as one of the finest concert halls in the United States.

Future BPO events include the “U2 Symphony Experience” which will be held on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. at Kleinhans Music Hall. A Los-Angeles based quartet performs U2’s hits with orchestrations that’ll be added to the sound. The BPO will donate five percent of ticket sales to the American Red Cross to aid local fire victims.

Kleinhans Music Hall will also host “New York Voices: Sweet Sounds of the 70s” which will be held on Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. The internationally acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning vocal group is known for their well-sounded harmonies. Formed by Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian, Caprice Fox, and Sara Krieger, New York Voices had their first performances in 1988.

2007 marked the release of their seventh studio CD, “A Day Like This.” Individually, the four members are involved in a variety of projects including solo performances, recordings, teaching, and writing.

Artists that they perform include: Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, Queen, and the Bee Gees.

The “Symphonic Spooktacular” will also be held at Kleinhans Music Hall on Oct. 23 at 2:30 p.m. It is aimed for children ages 5-10, and will feature Halloween fun for kids to wear their costume and parade across the Kleinhans stage at the end of the concert. Stefan Sanders is aiming to be an introduction to classical music for kids. At 1:30 p.m., there will be free pre-concert activities such as crafts, stories, and games.

On Oct. 28 at 10:30 a.m. and Oct. 29 at 8 p.m., Kleinhans Music Hall will host “Percussion Superstar Stewart Copeland.” Copeland is best known as the drummer for The Police, and will present his composition under the conductor Mark Haycock six months after its Pittsburgh debut.

For more information on anything BPO-related, visit bpo.org.

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