Giancarlo Guerrero’s 09/10 season marks his first as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.
"The conductor, Giancarlo Guerrero, has a way of hurrying onstage as if he can't wait to get started. [On] Saturday night ... his conducting was not only infectuously exuberant but insightful too. Guerrero has joined the orchestra on numerous occasions recently, both at Severance Hall and on tour in Miami and beyond ...the orchestra sounded absolutely terrific under him."
Akron Beacon Journal, July 2008.
A champion of new music, Guerrero has collaborated with and 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. A new CD on Naxos of music by Michael Daugherty, with the Nashville Symphony, is scheduled for release in September 2009.
As a guest conductor, Guerrero recently made his European debut with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, where he was immediately invited to return, and his UK Debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has also recently made successful debuts with several major American orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra (where he was invited back for a subscription week and tour), the Seattle Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra (where he returned in the 07/08 season). Other recent orchestral engagements in North America include appearances with the orchestras of Columbus, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and at the Grant Park Festival.
Also in demand in Central and South America, Guerrero conducts regularly in Venezuela with the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, with which he has had a special relationship for many years. 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. He also made his debut at the Teatro Colón in Argentina in 2005.
Equally at home with opera, Guerrero works regularly with the Costa Rican Lyric Opera and in recent seasons has conducted new productions of Carmen, La bohème and most recently a new production of Rigoletto. In February 2008, he gave the Australian premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s one-act opera Ainadamar at the Adelaide Festival, to great acclaim.
Guerrero was most recently the Music Director of the Eugene Symphony. From 1999 to 2004, Mr. Guerrero served as Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra. He made his Minnesota Orchestra subscription debut in March 2000, conducting the world premiere of John Corigliano’s Phantasmagoria on the Ghosts of Versailles. He returned on subscription every subsequent season during his time there. In June 2004, Guerrero was awarded the Helen M. Thompson Award by the American Symphony Orchestra League, which recognises outstanding achievement among young conductors in the USA.
Giancarlo Guerrero is represented by Jessica Ford at Intermusica, jford@intermusica.co.uk.
February 2010 / 462 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
CONTENTS
CONCERT REVIEWS
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
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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
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