“There was total jubilation, with the audience clamoring on its feet…Without a doubt, acquiring Guerrero has been a very smart decision”
El Nuevo Herald, March 2011
Giancarlo Guerrero is now well established as a strong and innovative Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, known for his energy, vision and imaginative programming. He is also newly appointed as Principal Guest Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami Residency. His appointment will start in the 2011/12 - the residency’s sixth season - and last for three years. In this capacity, Guerrero will lead the artistic planning, shape the programme and conduct subscription concerts, as well as planning strategy for education and community outreach.
He has also worked with, and will return to, several major American orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, which whom he enjoys a close relationship, Boston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Guerrero has actively supported the music of several of America’s most respected composers, including John Adams, John Corigliano, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Daugherty and Roberto Sierra. He was awarded 2 Grammys last season for his recording of Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony on Naxos’ American Classics label, and his recent recording of Roberto Sierra’s Saxophone Concerto was very warmly received in the musical press. In February 2008, he gave the highly successful Australian premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s one-act opera Ainadamar at the Adelaide Festival.
As a guest conductor in Europe, Guerrero has worked with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Polish National RSO, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Brussels Philharmonic, where he was immediately re-invited for two periods in the 2012/13 season. In the forthcoming season, he will appear with the BBC Scottish SO, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic with whom he will give concerts on a short European tour including Genova, Zurich, Ludwigshafen and Berlin.
Guerrero is a native of Costa Rica and trained through El Sistema in Venezuela. He is in great demand in Central and South America and regularly returns to Venezuela to the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, with whom he has had a special relationship for many years, and to the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra. His debut at the Casals Festival with Yo-Yo Ma and the Puerto Rico Symphony in 2005 was followed by return engagements in 2006 and 2007, and he has conducted at the Teatro Colón and the Costa Rican Lyric Opera on a number of occasions in recent seasons, including new productions of Carmen, La Bohème and, most recently, Rigoletto.
Giancarlo Guerrero was awarded the Helen M. Thompson Award by the American Symphony Orchestra League in 2004, which recognises outstanding achievement among young conductors in the USA.
Giancarlo Guerrero is represented by Jessica Ford at Intermusica, jford@intermusica.co.uk.
2011-12 Season / 453 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
CONTENTS
CONCERT REVIEWS
The Philadelphia Orchestra / Prokofiev Symphony No. 5
“The Philadelphia Orchestra showed its true colors, that of a top orchestra in best form, thanks to the charismatic and masterful guidance of guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero…”
“Maestro Guerrero was completely in control, and showed great sensitivity in phrasing and tempo. His showmanship was on full display as he conducted the more-than-hour-long work without a score, suavely danced while conducting during the second movement two and generally kept the orchestra and audience on its toes throughout, reminiscent of the late Leonard Bernstein.”
Albany Times Union, August 2011
Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Mahler Symphony No. 2 Resurrection
“Mahler's Second Symphony is nicknamed the "Resurrection," and appropriately enough, Guerrero and his forces gave it a heaven-storming performance. This was an interpretation that had everything: violent eruptions, sudden silences, melting lyricism and a final, triumphant ascent to the summit of sonic bliss…”
“Guerrero gave all of this music its due. He resisted the temptation to rush the tempo, which gave the music a welcome sense of breadth and scope.”
Nashville Scene, June 2011
West Australian Symphony Orchestra / Rimsky-Korsakov, Respighi, Orff
“Throughout, Guerrero brought freshness to familiar notes...”
“There was more splendour after the interval with Guerrero charting the progress of Orff's Carmina Burana with an unerring sense of direction...Throughout, Guerrero demonstrated a rare gift - an ability to draw a full-hearted response from his forces without allowing the music to lapse into crassness or vulgar effusiveness.”
"Hopefully, there will be further opportunities to hear Guerrero conduct the WASO.”
The West Australian, May 2011
The Cleveland Orchestra / Elgar, Mendelssohn, Ravel
“Elgar’s Enigma Variations was given a gorgeously wrought performance. From the restless opening notes through the stormy, playful and grave variations, Guererro exercised control over tempos and dynamics that allowed the work to breathe and build to the climactic ending.”
“Ravel’s Bolero, which ended the concert, was a long, smoothly executed crescendo, with coolly suave playing in the winds and brass. Guerrero, having held the orchestra back throughout, opened it up to full volume for the ending, earning a long standing ovation and several curtain calls.”
Miami Herald, March 2011
“…the famous 'Enigma Variations' by Elgar, an ideal piece for virtuosi orchestras. Here Guerrero displayed another angle of his personality. The force and vibrations of the previous piece segued softly and seamlessly into an exquisite tapestry of delicate sound textures, harmonious insinuations and wile full of subtleties, save for a final more ardent and lively touch. Although this piece is played often in concert halls in this city, the Maestro knew how to present it as a first-time affair, fresh and as if just emerging from the staff.”
“There was total jubilation, with the audience clamoring on its feet…Without a doubt, acquiring Guerrero has been a very smart decision. The maestro, who gives himself to the music to the point of almost dancing to it at the podium, was what The Cleveland Orchestra needed to finally conquer the music lovers of Miami.”
El Nuevo Herald, March 2011
Boston Symphony Orchestra / Tanglewood Festival
"Poet and Peasant had character and energy to burn, as did the Suite from Bizet’s Carmen. Guerrero trumped the Sunday rains with his exuberant pursuit of happiness."
The Boston Globe, August 2010
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra / Blossom Festival / Beethoven, Rachmaninoff
“The conductor Giancarlo Guerrero has a way of hurrying onstage as if he can't wait to get started. Saturday night, for his first time leading the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center, his conducting was not only infectiously exuberant but insightful, too.
“Born in Nicaragua, raised in Costa Rica and educated at U.S. music schools, Guerrero has joined the orchestra on numerous occasions recently, both at Severance Hall and on tour… the orchestra sounded absolutely terrific under him.
“Quite possibly, Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 sounded especially fresh and pointed because it followed (after intermission) the thick, dark score of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. And the orchestra was in accord with Guerrero for a riveting performance. Together, conductor and players created an especially sweet, focused string/wind blend and a chamber music-like quality of players listening to each other.
“Guerrero led with a clear point of view, that Beethoven was breaking ground in this early work. The performance was both crisply classical and thrilling, with Beethoven's surprises underlined (though not overdone) so we didn't take them for granted.”
Akron Beacon Journal, July 2008
Colorado Symphony Orchestra / Mozart, Tchaikovsky
“With soloist Cho-Liang Lin and guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero on the podium, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra provided a sensitive, stimulating accompaniment to the concerto [Mozart Violin Concert No.4]. The rolling and often mercurial conclusion brought the audience to its feet — but while Lin's dependable, refined musicality is always enriching, it was Guerrero who claimed the highest marks for Friday night's artistic success. … And in Tchaikovsky's titanic, often thunderous symphony, Guerrero proved himself a keen interpreter of the work's insistent, impactful first movement.“
The Denver Post, February 2009
Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Aguila (World Premiere), Bartok, Ligety, Strauss
“When music director Giancarlo Guerrero talks about the symphony's commitment to new American music, he's not blowing smoke—this weekend's performance of Miguel del Aguila's The Fall of Cuzco will mark the second world premiere Guerrero has conducted here this fall.
“With high-profile premiere performances and recordings, the Nashville Symphony is attracting more and more national attention these days. Get to know Maestro Guerrero soon, and you'll be able to say you knew him when”.
The Nashville Scene, Nov 2009
Back to Top
RECORDING REVIEWS
Micheal Daugherty / Metropolis Symphony / Nashville Symphony Orchestra
“The Metropolis Symphony is a big burly phantasmagoric romp of a symphony. That it was inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of Superman’s arrival in the pages of DC Comics is consistent with the work’s riotous primary colours and indefatigable rowdy energy.
“Daugherty must be very pleased with this disc which also draws attention to a name new to me: Giancarlo Guerrero. Watch out for more from him and from Daugherty”.
MusicWeb International.com, Sept 2009
“It's terrifically entertaining, and this new recording is every bit as fine as the premiere from David Zinman on Argo. The Nashville Symphony plays with the necessary brilliance, and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero turns in an interpretation just as vivid as its predecessor, timing out within a few seconds in just about every movement”.
ClassicsToday.com, Nov 2009
Back to Top