While the Mannes administration at that time expressed doubts about the ability of any woman to gain a music directorship, it consented to an official transfer of emphasis for Falletta.

Falletta studied conducting with such conductors as Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling, and Semyon Bychkov,[1] and also participated in master classes with Leonard Bernstein.

In May 2011, Falletta was named the 12th principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, effective with the 2011–2012 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.

[2] Falletta served on the National Council on the Arts from 2008 to 2012, following her appointment by President George W. Bush and continued on into the Obama administration.

[16] Call Me Madame Maestro is a follow-up to Olofson's 1987 Swedish documentary A Woman Is a Risky Bet: Six Orchestra Conductors, where JoAnn Falletta appears conducting the Queens Philharmonic in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring in rehearsal and performance.

[19] JoAnn Falletta won a Grammy Award in 2019 for her work as a conductor in the category of Best Classical Compendium for the Naxos recording of "Fuchs: Piano Concerto 'Spiritualist'; Poems Of Life; Glacier; Rush" with the London Symphony Orchestra.

She won her second individual Grammy Award in 2020 as conductor in the category of Best Choral Performance for the Naxos recording of "Richard Danielpour: Passion of Yeshua.

"[20] Her recording with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra of John Corigliano’s "Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan" won two Grammy Awards in 2009.

[21] In 2023, she was nominated for a 2024 Grammy Award as conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the category of Best Orchestral Performance for her Naxos recording of Scriabin: Symphony No.