Vintage

Music Director beginning with the 2009-2010 season.

Mr. Guerrero had already impressed the Symphony musicians and audiences of Nashville as guest conductor for four engagements following the death of the previous Music Director, Kenneth Schermerhorn in April of 2005. During those sessions Guerrero didn’t simply conduct the Symphony - he was sharing his passion - exchanging musical rhythms and scores for energy and excitement. The audience collaborated as well, responding to his charm and charisma with ovations of approval for his leadership style with the Symphony.

Born in Nicaragua and raised in Costa Rica, Mr. Guerrero began his musical training in Costa Rica as a member of the Costa Rica Youth Symphony. He received his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University in Texas and his master’s degree in conducting from Northwestern University in Illinois. Hailed for his precise yet sensitive performances, Mr. Guerrero has guest-conducted many major American orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He served as Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1999-2004 and recently made his European debut with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and his UK Debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

In addition to his performances in Nashville and Eugene, Mr. Guerrero’s conducting engagements this season include his return appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra both in Cleveland and on tour including the orchestra’s residency in Miami. He also leads the Australian premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s chamber opera Ainadamar at the Adelaide Festival. Additional engagements include appearances with the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Diego, among others, and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela.

In June 2004, Mr. Guerrero was awarded the Helen M. Thompson Award by the American Symphony Orchestra League, which recognizes outstanding achievement among young conductors nationwide.

He is currently completing his sixth season as Music Director of Oregon’s Eugene Symphony and will serve as the Nashville Symphony’s Music Director designate during the 2007-2008 season as he makes his transition to Middle Tennessee. As Music Director, Mr. Guerrero’s primary responsibilities will be overseeing all artistic activities of the Nashville Symphony, conducting the majority of the Symphony’s classical series concerts, as well as gala and other special concerts, community concerts, and recordings. He and his wife Shirley plan to reside in Nashville with their two daughters Virginia and Claudia.

"Giancarlo Guerrero is obviously a gifted musician, and the Nashville Symphony players love his energy and passion,” said Mark Wait, Chair of Nashville Symphony’s Music Director Search Committee. “He has an all-encompassing vision of how all kinds of music are essential to our culture. He loves this community and its diversity of music. It's no wonder that he was the unanimous choice of the Search Committee."

“It is a great honor to become the next Music Director of the Nashville Symphony,” remarked Giancarlo Guerrero. “I look forward to wonderful music-making with the musicians of the orchestra in their terrific new hall and continuing the orchestra's rich and long recording tradition. This is an exciting time in the orchestra's history and it is my privilege to accept the responsibility of leading this orchestra to new artistic heights. I am thrilled about working with President Alan Valentine, the orchestra's staff, board members, and the musicians of the Nashville Symphony, and my family and I are looking forward to becoming a part of the Nashville community.”

Both Mr. Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony are champions of American music, which the Symphony has highlighted through its American Encores initiative - featuring “encore” performances of works by living American composers and American masters that have been performed rarely or only once previously (at its premiere) - and through its award-winning recordings on Naxos’ American Classics series. Mr. Guerrero initiated a guest-composer series in Eugene, where under his leadership the ensemble has hosted several of America’s most respected composers, including John Adams, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Aaron Jay Kernis and Michael Daugherty.

Recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing orchestras, the 84-member Nashville Symphony gives more than 200 performances annually and is rapidly developing an international reputation for unique programming and high musical standards. The Symphony’s award-winning recordings and focus on new American music, coupled with the high-profile opening of Schermerhorn Symphony Center, have thrust the Symphony into the national spotlight. The Nashville Symphony has 11 recordings on Naxos and one on Decca, making it currently one of the most active recording symphony orchestras in the country. The recordings have received four Grammy nominations, including one for “Best Classical Album” in 2004 for the works of Elliott Carter.

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center

· Opened: September 9, 2006

· Total Cost: $123.5 Million

· Lighting Cost: $3 Million

· Seating Capacity: 1, 844

· Square feet: 197,000

· Number of symphony halls visited for design inspiration: 7 halls in 5 cities - Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikvereinssaal and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Philharmonie and Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona

· Number of design variations that were built before the design team was satisfied: 18 – tested on 1:20 scale models

· Basic geometric shape: traditional “shoebox”, with proportions drawn from Musikvereinssaal and Boston Symphony Hall

· Floor: Flat with ability to convert to raked seating in less than 2 hours

· Silence is golden: Each of the 30 windows have an interior 2-inch layer of glass and an exterior 3-inch layer of glass – separated by 2 feet of air space

· Time needed to tune and adjust the acoustics and interior to perfection: 3 months and 20 test rehearsals, including two rehearsals with test audiences.