When JoAnn Falletta turned 7, her father gave her a little guitar. Tentatively touching its fingerboard, Falletta declared herself a musician. For life.

Ever shy, finding it hard to talk, and harder to make friends growing up in New York, the little girl, as a way to communicate, culled yet another passion: writing, mainly poetry.

Now, with a career spanning more than 30 years on the conductor’s podium, Falletta, 62, has fulfilled her earlier promise. At the helm of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra since 1999, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 1991 and four years into her tenure as artistic adviser of the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, Falletta has earned kudos for creative programming and, in particular, her devotion to American composers, on disc and in the concert halls. For her contributions, she has been elected a 2016 member of the distinguished American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Throughout, she has continued to write, contributing uber-serious texts to magazines regarding audience development, music directorship, music education and the importance of the American symphony, among other topics.

Sure, many musicians write and publish. British conductor Mark Wigglesworth, for example, expounds online about the genius of Shostakovich, with particular emphasis on the 15 symphonies. His fellow countryman, pianist-composer-painter-and-who-knows-what-else Stephen Hough blogs for the London Telegraph about theology and, yes, music. Then there’s American pianist Jeremy Denk. His musical musings have appeared in major periodicals as well as on his blog, think denk.

But Falletta has pulled a hat trick of sorts. While posting poetic bonbons on her website (joannfalletta.com/writing.html) about major and/or popular works — Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” Ravel’s “Mother Goose,” for instance — Falletta also has produced “Love Letters to Music” (Dietz Press), a pale pink hardcover book depicting scenes at once sweet, sad, soulful, silly, even sublime, from her working life.

In a recent interview at the Halekulani hotel where she resides when ministering to the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, Falletta, all cheery in blue, appeared bemused that her compositions, snippets from her diary, really, could be considered mystical, musical, even magical delights.

“I’ve written poems about experiences I’ve had whether with an artist or a piece of music,” said Falletta, a concert guitarist who helps oversee and judge an international guitar concerto competition established in her name in 2004 and held biennially in Buffalo, N.Y.

She’s even authored a poem about that beloved string instrument, dubbed simply “Guitar.”

“I would go back to a poem about a concert and read it and say, ‘Oh, I remember working with (Chinese concert pianist) Lang Lang.’”

She said she kept these “crystal moments” for herself until a friend in Virginia encouraged her to publish them. “(She said) people want to know how musicians feel about what they do. She thought it might open a window for people to understand music,” Falletta said.

In her poem “If Beethoven Were Emperor,” note how Falletta feels about that ultimate musician, that freedom-for-the-common-man fighter, Ludwig van Beethoven:

If Beethoven were emperor

We would find magic flutes in cereal boxes

Cafes would name desserts for composers

and musicians would always eat for free …

Come December, in what appears to be an annual event, Falletta will conduct Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony in Honolulu “to remind ourselves before the new year about what is good about us as human beings. Centuries later we feel the same way.”

Asked how she remains restrained — as opposed to the bombast of her Juilliard mentor Leonard Bernstein — when leading the orchestral and choral forces in that final “Ode to Joy,” Falletta insisted, “Well, you do feel as though you are floating above the podium, but something keeps me grounded. There are over 200 people on stage. I cannot forget that they are there. But inside I am filled with joy.”

In the essay “The Compleat Music Director,” Falletta decrees that an orchestra’s survival hinges on the all-important choice of music director.

She posits, “Does a flamboyant podium presence equate to a prodigious talent? Does conducting from memory insure deep musical understanding? Do exaggerated tempos and dynamic changes imply a unique and revelatory interpretation? The true assessment of a maestro’s musical skill often rests with the musicians over whom he presides.”

How does Falletta regard herself up there? Dynamic? Hardly flamboyant, though.

“I know that I feel very filled with energy. I feel the audience but am extremely focused on the relationship to the musicians, their connection to me and vice versa,” she said. “It is not about the conductor, as people think it is. The experience is about the musicians. If you cannot create a situation where they can be great, you are not doing your job. You have to create a landscape where they can shine.”

Dividing her time between homes in Norfolk, Va., and Buffalo, Falletta spends about four weeks annually in Hawaii. As adviser, she oversees all auditions for Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra positions, chooses guest artists and gives the final nod to repertory. She holds many meetings with orchestra officials after midnight from her East Coast quarters, no doubt when dinner plates are being cleared in the islands.

One unexpected bonus resulting from her association with numerous ensembles is a more fluid exchange of soloists and personnel. For her recent collaboration with violinist Midori at the Hawai‘i Theatre, Falletta recruited a bassoonist from Buffalo for the performance. And following the HSO’s riotous 2015 collaboration with ukulele great Jake Shimabukuro, Falletta went on to introduce the “rock star” to concertgoers in Buffalo.

“I am looking at Jake while conducting, and he is into it. We all got into it and went with his energy.”

Falletta talked more about the future of the Hawaii symphony and the growing acceptance of female conductors.

Question: Can the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra survive, let alone thrive, without a permanent conductor?

Answer: Yes, I believe so. Right now they are in a transition period, building themselves to a point of strength to find the right person for them. They are seeing many guest artists, and it is refreshing for them.

Q: Do you ever see yourself at the helm down the line? Or is it too small for you?

A: It’s not a case of small; it’s what they need — when they get there. They are not there yet. They are still finding their way, as is the board. What do we want the orchestra to be? Only 16 weeks of concerts spread out, or can we get to the point where we have musicians to move to Hawaii? It’s hard to borrow musicians here easily. But they have made a lot of progress.

Q: It has to be of concern to note the low attendance at some concerts in Honolulu.

A: Part of it is trying to do two performances in a very large hall. We know Sundays is usually a great house. But we are experimenting with Saturday nights. It’s always slow to pick up when you add something. If you make a change, you have to stick to it for a while. Saturday night is different in character.

Q: Increasingly, and as opposed to when you began your career, women are securing posts to lead major orchestras. For instance, in a rare move Finnish conductor Susanna Malkki has been named principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 2017-18. Do you deem the conversation about equality still worthy, or redundant?

A: All of a sudden changes are happening because orchestras are finding themselves in a very challenging place. Audiences are dwindling, struggling with balancing old and new repertory, relying on private or public support. It’s not an easy time. Some are asking what we can do to be different and have a fresh perspective. One way is causing them to hire young women; they seem to be very successful.

Q: Some orchestras are allowing the use of tablets and mobile phones in designated seating, at special concerts, in an attempt to lure younger audiences. You tell me that you’ve experimented with this in Virginia. In your writings you suggest that as technology hurtles us forward at dizzying speeds, it’s via that quiet, slow journey that we come to know ourselves. With your peripatetic lifestyle, how do you create a balance, not spread yourself too thin?

A: When you are doing something you love, you constantly replenish yourself. I get up early and feel better about my day if I spend 90 minutes on studying scores. That quiet time, with computers unopened, is very important to me. The times I feel least replenished are when I am by myself. Being with people, working with musicians, yes, you are busy and tired and do a lot of traveling, but you are constantly being re-energized.

Greta Beigel is a former Los Angeles Times arts writer and editor. She is the author of “Kvetch: One Bitch of a Life — A Memoir of Music & Survival,” (Amazon Digital Services).