Giancarlo Guerrero

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover this month for two concerts on 9 and 10 May at the NDR Großer Sendesaal in Hannover. Guerrero leads the orchestra in a programme of Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 with soloist Vadim Gluzman and John Adams Harmonielehre, a piece that was inspired by a dream and ended an 18 month-long period of writer's block for the composer.

Elsewhere this month, Guerrero joins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for four concerts consisting of South American and Spanish music, including popular works by Ginastera, Chabrier, Piazzolla and the hugely influential Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo, performed by Pablo Sáinz Villegas. These concerts take place at the Symphony Center in Chicago on 23, 24, 25 and 26 May.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the Wroclaw Philharmonic this month for three concerts celebrating the centenary of Polish independence in Wroclaw and Hamburg. Guerrero conducts the orchestra in a programme of Lutosławski, Bruckner and Chopin, first at the orchestra's home in Wroclaw on 9 and 11 November and then at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on 15 November.

Guerrero was named as Music Director of the Wroclaw Philharmonic in June 2017, just seven months after his first performances with the orchestra. His next concerts with the orchestra come in January, when he conducts them in a programme of Rossini, Mozart and Richard Strauss.

Benjamin Beilman travels to Australia this month for his debut concerts with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 18 July 2018. Beilman joins the orchestra to give the Australian premiere of Jennifer Higdon Violin Concerto.

The concerts are conducted by Intermusica's Giancarlo Guerrero, who also leads the orchestra in two major Russian works: Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Festival Overture and Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition.

Following the first concert, there are repeat performances on 20 and 21 July.

Giancarlo Guerrero closes his first season as Music Director of the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra on 9 June 2018 with a performance of Orff Carmina burana.

Guerrero first conducted the NFW Wroclaw Philharmonic in October 2016 when he stepped in for a cancellation. After an immediate reinvitiation, he was named as the orchestra’s new Music Director in June 2017.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the Copenhagen Philharmonic this month to conduct two concerts on 20 and 21 April 2018. Guerrero and the orchestra are joined by students from the Royal Danish Conservatory for the two concerts, which take place in concerts in Copenhagen and Gladsaxe.

The programme features Philip Glass Violin Concerto No.1, Varèse Amériques and Dvorák Symphony No.9.

The week prior to his concerts in Copenhagen, Guerrero returns to the Wroclaw Philharmonic, where he is Music Director, to conduct the same Dvorák Symphony alongside Esa-Pekka Salonen Gambit and Barber Piano Concerto with Garrick Ohlsson.

Daniil Trifonov and Giancarlo Guerrero are winners at the 2018 Grammy Awards, announced on Sunday 28 January 2018. 

Daniil Trifonov has been awarded the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his album Transcendental. The all-Liszt recording includes Transcendental Études and Grandes Etudes de Paganini, and was released by Deutsche Grammophon in October 2016. Trifonov was previously nominated in the same category in 2014 and 2015. 

Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony have jointly received a number of Grammy Awards in the past, and this year feature on a recording that won two awards: Best Classical Compendium and Best Contemporary Classical Composition for their recording of works by Jennifer Higdon. 

Watch a film of Trifonov performing Transcendental Étude No.7 at Carnegie Hall: 

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to Poland this month to mark the 100th anniversary of the country's independence in concert with the Wroclaw Philharmonic on 19 January 2018. Guerrero and the orchestra celebrate the occasion by performing Beethoven Symphony No.9 and a piano concerto by the former Prime Minister of Poland, I.J. Paderewski.

Guerrero was announced as the Wroclaw Philharmonic's Music Director in June and began his tenure this season. The relationship began when Guerrero stepped in for a cancellation in October 2016 and was followed by an immediate reinvitation.

Elsewhere this month, Guerrero returns to the Residentie Orkest for a series of concerts in the Hague from 26 January. Guerrero conducts a programme of Khachaturian Masquerade Suite, Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 with soloist Maria Milstein and Sibelius Symphony No.2.

Giancarlo Guerrero conducts his first performance as the new Music Director of the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra on 15 December 2017. He is joined by fellow Intermusica artist Boris Giltburg for Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 and conducts Mahler Symphony No.1 'Titan' in the second half.

Guerrero first conducted the NFW Wroclaw Philharmonic in October 2016 when he stepped in for a cancellation. After an immediate reinvitiation, he was named as the orchestra’s new Music Director in June 2017. At the time of his appointment, Guerrero said:

“I felt a connection with the musicians of the Wroclaw Philharmonic from the moment I started working with them, when I came to fill a last-minute cancellation in October 2016. My initial impressions of the musicians, the quality of the new hall and this lively city were confirmed when I returned in December. The orchestra’s ambitious vision — combined with what I know is a special relationship with the musicians and an amazing space to showcase an endless variety of music and reach the highest artistic levels — made me very excited to come to Wroclaw.”

Prior to the concert in Poland, Guerrero conducts the Brussels Philharmonic on 7 and 9 December, conducting works by Brahms.

Daniil Trifonov and Giancarlo Guerrero have been named among the nominees for the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Trifonov is nominated in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category for his recent Liszt album, Transcendental, while Guerrero is nominated in the Best Classical Compendium category for his recording of works by Jennifer Higdon made with the Nashville Symphony. The recording is also nominated in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category, as is his recording of Richard Danielpour's Songs of Solitude, which is also nominated in the Best Engineered Album, Classical category.

Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony have received many GRAMMY awards during their partnership, most recently receiving three awards in February 2017 for their recording of Michael Daugherty Tales Of Hemingway. The recording was awarded Best Classical Instrumental Solo, Best Classical Compendium and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. They have further wins for Best Classical Compendium in 2016, Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2012 and Best Orchestral Performance and Best Classical Album in 2011.

Trifonov was also nominated for the Best Classical Instrumental Solo award in 2015 for his recording of the Rachmaninov Variations with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, including Trifonov’s own composition Rachmaniana.

The winners of the awards are announced in New York on 28 January.

Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon has appointed Giancarlo Guerrero as its new Principal Guest Conductor. Guerrero will begin a three-year term in August 2018 and will conduct up to four weeks with the orchestra each season.

In June 2017, Guerrero was announced as the new Music Director of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic for an initial term of three seasons. He will conduct four weeks in 2017/18 which will increase to eight weeks in the 2018/19 season plus touring and recording projects. The orchestra is based in the magnificent new hall at the National Forum of Music, Wroclaw.

Guerrero is also the Music Director of the Nashville Symphony, a post he has held since 2009 and to which he is committed through to the 2024/25 season. During his tenure Guerrero and the orchestra have made more than a dozen award winning recordings for Naxos, and have won eight Grammys.

Giancarlo Guerrero has commented on his appointment in Lisbon:

“Gulbenkian was the first orchestra I conducted in Europe so it has a special place in my heart. Returning as Principal Guest Conductor feels a bit like coming home. There was wonderful chemistry with the musicians from the very first concert I performed with them more than a decade ago, and they have been so welcoming every time I have returned. They took a chance on me as a young conductor and I remain grateful for that.

I have also fallen in love with Lisbon and the Gulbenkian Foundation, a cultural cornerstone of the city which is constantly forging connections beyond its own walls and into the community. The same can be said about the virtuosic and deeply committed members of the orchestra who are true ambassadors for the institution.”

Risto Nieminen, director of the Music department of the Gulbenkian Foundation, says:

"In Lisbon Giancarlo Guerrero is greatly loved by the orchestra as well as the audience. He transmits musical energy that is contagious and creates extraordinary concerts. At home with a wide variety of repertoire, I am sure Giancarlo will take us on many enlightening musical journeys."

Guerrero’s guest conducting engagements takes him to orchestra including the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, DSO Berlin, Frankfurter Museums-Gesellschaft, NDR Hannover, Deutsche Radio Philarmonie, Brussels Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Sinfónica de Galicia, and the Sydney Symphony.

"[the concert] was magnificently performed by the orchestra, galvanised by the lively conducting by Giancarlo Guerrero in this well timed comeback at Gulbenkian... One thing is certain: an unforgettable concert."
Expresso, February 2017

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to Portugal this month for two concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra on 20 and 21 October 2017. Guerrero conducts the orchestra in a programme of Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 with soloist Nikolai Demidenko and Respighi's Pines and Fountains of Rome. His previous visit to Lisbon, in February 2017, was a great success:

"Giancarlo Guerrero dared to sustain the transitions to the maximum, leaving the music to breathe and then expand into the long crescendo of the middle of the movement."
Bachtrack

Guerrero's next European trip comes in December, when he makes his first appearances with the Wroclaw Philharmonic as the orchestra's new Principal Conductor.

Giancarlo Guerrero steps in to conduct the Seattle Symphony in their first week of subscription concerts from 21 September 2017, replacing Music Director Ludovic Morlot.

Guerrero conducts the orchestra in three performances of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, with soloists Malin Christensson and Christianne Stotijn, preceeded by Berlioz The Death of Cleopatra.

"Guerrero particularly emphasised the dynamic nuances. In the Symphony’s quiet as well as loud passages, the solo voices clearly emerged, and the orchestral part itself did not seem overburdened in the explosive finale."
Berliner Zeitung

The concerts in Seattle follow the opening of Guerrero's Nashville Symphony season on 14 September, when he conducts Stravinsky, Debussy and MacDowell as well as Conversations with Nijinsky, a work by Nashville-based rock musician Kip Winger.

Giancarlo Guerrero begins the 2017/18 season in Nashville with performances of Stravinsky Firebird on 14, 15 and 16 September 2017. Also featured on the programme is Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and MacDowell Piano Concerto No.2 with soloist André Watts, as well as Conversations with Nijinsky, a work by Nashville-based rock musician Kip Winger.

Other highlights of Guerrero’s Nashville season include Britten Violin Concerto with fellow Intermusica artist James Ehnes, Yefim Bronfman performing Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3, and Ingrid Fliter performing Chopin Piano Concerto No.1.

Guerrero also conducts symphonies by Mahler, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Copland and the world premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff Symphony No. 4 “Heichalot”. He also closes the season with Verdi Requiem.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to Brazil to conduct the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, with whom he maintains a close association, in a series of concerts at Sala São Paulo and Auditório Cláudio Santoro from 27 July 2017. For the first set of concerts, Guerrero leads the orchestra in a programme of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4 and Michael Daugherty Hemingway Tales, a work for cello and orchestra that was commissioned by Guerrero's Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

Hemingway Tales focuses on the life and works of American author and journalist Ernest Hemingway, and Guerrero conducted its premiere in 2015 alongside cellist Zuill Bailey, who joins him once more to perform the work in São Paulo. Guerrero is a strong advocate of Daugherty’s work and recorded the composer's Metropolis Symphony and Deus ex machina for Naxos, receiving the Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance in the process.

Guerrero's second set of concerts with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, from 3 August, features a Latin American programme of works by Marlos Nobre, Villa-Lobos and Chávez, for which Guerrero and the orchestra are joined by guitarist José Satneck and saxophonist Leo Gandelman.

Today, the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Poland, announced that Giancarlo Guerrero is to be the Music Director of the Wrocław Philharmonic starting in the 2017/18 season, for an initial term of three seasons until the end of the 2019/20 season. Guerrero will conduct four weeks in Wrocław in 2017/18 and, starting with the 2018/19 season, he will spend eight weeks per season with the orchestra, in addition to touring and recording activities.

Guerrero is currently Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since 2009, and recently renewed his contract there through to the end of the 2024/25 season.

“I felt a connection with the musicians of the Wroclaw Philharmonic from the moment I started working with them, when I came to fill a last-minute cancellation in October 2016”, Guerrero says. “My initial impressions of the musicians, the quality of the new hall and this lively city were confirmed when I returned in December. The orchestra’s ambitious vision — combined with what I know is a special relationship with the musicians and an amazing space to showcase an endless variety of music and reach the highest artistic levels — made me very excited to come to Wroclaw.”

In the 2017/18 season, Guerrero’s guest conducting engagements include the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Queensland Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, Residentie Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, and Gulbenkian Orchestra.

For more information and to read the full press release, visit the National Forum of Music website.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to Europe this month to conduct two performances which were due to be conducted by the late Stanisław Skrowaczewski. Guerrero assisted Skrowaczewski many times during his seasons as Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Guerrero said of Skrowaczewski:

“He was always very kind and supportive and I was honoured to remain his friend and colleague long after my tenure in the Twin Cities came to an end. I vividly remember all his concerts and his interpretations of Beethoven, Shostakovich, Schumann, Bartok, Brahms, Mahler, Lutoslawski, and his beloved Bruckner. And how incredible it was to witness him lead his own compositions! I was especially touched when he accepted my invitation to conduct the Nashville Symphony in an unforgettable performance of Bruckner's 2nd Symphony. He never hesitated to provide support and advice and I knew I could always count on him for guidance. One of the great titans has now left us, but his legacy will live on with those of us that were fortunate to have been impacted by his generosity. Rest in peace dear Stan!”

The first concert, with the Wroclaw Philharmonic on 9 June, features Skrowaczewski’s own arrangement of J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, followed by Bruckner Symphony No.9.

On 23 June, Guerrero conducts the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, again with the original programme: Beethoven Symphony No.1 in C major and Shostakovich Symphony No.1. The programme opens with another of Skrowaczewski’s arrangements, of Bruckner String Quintet in F major.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the Copenhagen Philharmonic on 22 April 2017 to conduct the latest concert in the orchestra's Behind the Music series, this time exploring Stravinsky The Rite of Spring. The concert takes an in-depth look at this work, alongside other contemporary repertoire.

In the following week, Guerrero returns to the Brussels Philharmonic for two concerts on 27 and 28 April. Guerrero conducts the orchestra in performances of Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture, Robert Groslot Piano Concerto and Stravinsky The Rite of Spring.

Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony received three more Grammys on 12 February 2017 for their recording of Michael Daugherty Tales Of Hemingway. The recording was awarded Best Classical Instrumental Solo, Best Classical Compendium and Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony already hold several Grammys, including wins for Best Classical Compendium in 2016, Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2012 and Best Orchestral Performance and Best Classical Album in 2011.

Guerrero has long been a champion of contemporary American composers and spoke to Grammy Pro about the importance of performing new works. Click here to watch the conversation.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the Brussels Philharmonic this month for a concert at the Flagey in Brussels on 9 February 2017. He is joined for the concert by fellow Intermusica artist Ingrid Fliter, who performs Chopin Piano Concerto No.2. The rest of the programme features Richard Danielpour Toward the Splendid City, Wagner Tristan and Isolde: Prelude & Liebestod and Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin Suite. 

Elsewhere this month Guerrero conducts the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra on 2 February, performing Honegger Pacific 231, Ravel Piano Concerto in G major with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, and Prokofiev Symphony No.5. Guerrero also conducts two concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra on 16 and 17 February, for which he is joined by Alisa Weilerstein who performs Dutilleux Tout un monde lointain...

Recordings by Giancarlo Guerrero, Martyn Brabbins and Susan Bickley have been nominated at this year’s Grammy Awards, including nominations in three categories for Guerrero. Congratulations to all!

Giancarlo Guerrero’s recording of music by Michael Daugherty with the Nashville Symphony for Naxos is nominated in three categories: Best Classical Instrumental Solo, Best Classical Compendium and Best Contemporary Classical Compendium. Guerrero has led the Nashville Symphony to multiple Grammy wins in recent years, most recently for works by composer Stephen Paulus in February 2016.

Martyn Brabbins’ recording Ralph Vaughan Williams Discoveries with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and soloists Roderick Williams and Jennifer Johnston is nominated for Best Classical Compendium. Released on Albion Records, the disc features world premiere recordings of several Vaughan Williams pieces, and spans the composers entire career.

Susan Bickley is one of the soloists in Janáček Glagolitic Mass with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner, released on Chandos., and nominated for Best Choral Performance. 

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 12 February 2017 in Los Angeles and broadcast on the CBS network.

Giancarlo return to Europe this month for concerts with the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic, Frankfurter Opern- and Museumsorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, beginning in Wroclaw on 2 December 2016.

The programme for the concert in Wroclaw includes Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major played by Sergei Krylov and Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique.

Guerrero then continues to Germany for concerts with the Frankfurter Opern-und Museumsorchester and Christina and Michelle Naughton on 11 and 12 December, where the programme is Mozart Symphony No.31 'Paris', Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor, Mozart Piano Concerto No.10 for Two Pianos, K.365 and Ravel La valse.

On 15 December Guerrero returns to the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia for a concert in Vido where the all-Beethoven programme includes the Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust and Symphony No.7. This is followed by a concert on 17 December in La Coruña where the programme features Sibelius The Countess's Portrait and Finlandia, Tchaikovsky Marche Slave and Beethoven: Symphony No.7.

Finally, Guerrero ends the year in London, where he conducts a special concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican on 20 December. Writer, comedian and broadcaster David Sedaris leads the audience through an evening of words and music entitled “Death knows no season”.

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to France on 13 October 2016 to make his debut with the Orchestra National de France. The concert opens with Roberto Sierra Fandangos, which Guerrero had recorded for Naxos with the Nashville Symphony, and Sibelius Violin Concerto performed by Sergey Khachatryan.

After the interval he conducts Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales and Piazzolla Sinfonia Buenos Aires – another work which Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony have recorded for Naxos.

Kirill Gerstein and Giancarlo Guerrero return to Berlin on 2 October 2016 to join the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for a performance of Scriabin Piano Concerto. The programme opens with Ginastera Estancia and closes with Mahler Symphony No. 1.

When Guerrero conducted Estancia with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonic in April 2016, the Badische Neueste Nachrichten wrote: “…along with the flexibly reacting orchestra, he proves himself to be a master of rhythmic variability. … Even at full tilt, the delicacies of the music come into effect. Time and again, he and his musicians surprise with delicate nuances."

Guerrero returns to Europe having recently extended his tenure as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony to 2025.

Giancarlo Guerrero launches the Nashville Symphony's new season on 22 September 2016 with a performance of Mahler Symphony No.2 at Schemerhorn Symphony Center. Also on the programme is Kenneth Schermerhorn Jubilee: A Tennessee Quilting Party for Orchestra. Guerrero and the orchestra are joined for the concert by the Nashville Symphony Chorus as well as soprano Nicole Cabell and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung

Elsewhere in the season, Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony perform Brahms Symphony No.2, Holst The Planets, Stravinsky The Rite of Spring, Shostakovich Symphony No.10, Beethoven Symphony No.2 and John Harbison Requiem.

When Guerrero conducted Mahler Symphony No.9 last season, Nashville Scene wrote:

“[Guerrero’s] interpretation of Mahler’s last completed symphony (and de facto final testament) was spectacular from beginning to end.

He took his time in the Ninth Symphony’s monumental first movement, giving Mahler’s gorgeous melodies room to breathe, which in turn resulted in climaxes of seemingly cataclysmic power. The second movement peasant dance seemed appropriately earthy with its vibrant rhythms and joyous tone; the third movement burleske seemed appropriately urbane and fierce.”

On 19 September the Nashville Symphony announced that Guerrero has extended his music director contract by a further five years, continuing his leadership of the orchestra through to the 2024/25 season, and making Guerrero the orchestra’s second-longest-servicing conductor in its 70-year history.

Giancarlo Guerrero conducts three concerts with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Lise de La Salle on 14, 15 and 16 April 2016. The programme for the concerts includes the world premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Lebenbom Premiere, Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.1 and Stravinsky Petrushka.

The concert on 16 April will be broadcast live on the orchestra’s website.

Giancarlo Guerrero and Ingrid Fliter join the Copenhagen Philharmonic for a dance-themed concert on 1 April 2016. Together they perform Ravel’s jazz-inspired Piano Concerto. When Fliter  performed the concerto recently in London, Bachtrack commented that “Ingrid Fliter launched into Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major with great gusto and immediately took command of its virtuosic opening bars. This no-nonsense approach continued throughout a highly engaging and immediate performance of this jazz-infused pot pourri".

Guerrero also conducts Ginastera Estancia: Four Dances and Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances to complete the programme.

Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony's recording of works by composer Stephen Paulus won the Grammy Award on 15 February 2016 for Best Classical Compendium at the 58th annual awards ceremony.

Guerrero has had great success at the awards in recent years, having now led the orchestra to three Grammy wins. His previous Grammys are for recordings of Joseph Schwantner's percussion concerto Chasing Light… (Naxos, 2011) and Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony (Naxos, 2009).

Commenting on the win, the orchestra’s press release said:

“It is a true honor for our orchestra, and it's a wonderful and meaningful way to celebrate the memory of Stephen Paulus, a gifted composer who passed away shortly after the recording's release.”

Learn more about the recording, which was first released on Naxos in 2014, and see the full list of Grammy winners here.

Giancarlo Guerrero makes his debut with the NDR Hannover with two concerts on 18 and 19 February 2016. Guerrero conducts a programme of Wagner Lohengrin: Prelude, Hindemith Die Schwanendreher with Nils Mönkemeyer, Respighi Fountains of Rome and Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin.

Prior to this he conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice with Olga Kern on 5 and 6 February, conducting Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 1 and Shostakovich Symphony No. 10.

On 11 and 12 February Guerrero conducts the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa where he performs Mahler Symphony No.6 ‘Tragic’.

Daniil Trifonov, Paul McCreesh and Giancarlo Guerrero are among the list of nominees at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, in recognition of excellence in the recording arts over the last year.

Best Classical Instrumental Solo:

Daniil Trifonov’s Grammy nomination is in recognition of his recording of the Rachmaninov Variations with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, including Trifonov’s own composition Rachmaniana. The release was described by the Guardian as “dazzling performances, showing why Trifonov, when at his best like this, is peerless among younger pianists today.”

Best Classical Compendium:

Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort & Players added Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato 1740 in 2015 to their ever-growing discography on McCreesh’s own label Winged Lion, which already includes such works of the choral repertoire as Britten War Requiem, Mendelssohn Elijah and Berlioz Grande Messe des Morts. McCreesh and Gabrieli’s first Handel recording in over a decade recreates in painstaking detail the very first performance of L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, given in 1740, with additional instrumental repertoire including a Handel organ concerto and two concerti grossi. The disc has been praised in the press, with critics saying:

"Handel lovers can hardly fail to enjoy the mingled finesse and hedonistic delight of this new recording"
Gramophone, May 2015

"Paul McCreesh’s superb Gabrieli Consort and Players present this … with flair, a pristine sense of style and infectious energy."
Times, May 2015

Giancarlo Guerrero’s recording of works by Stephen Paulus has also been nominated in the Contemporary Classical Compendium category. The Concerto for String Quartet showcases the principle strings of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, which Guerrero has led to multiple Grammy wins in previous years. Also nominated in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category is Joan Tower’s Stroke which Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony recorded for Naxos in 2015.

The winners will be revealed at the 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards, held on 15 February 2016 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Click here to view the full list of nominations on the Grammys website. 

Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra to conduct all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos with soloists from the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel over two concerts on 10 and 11 December 2015. On December 10 Guerrero conducts a programme of Rachmaninov Scherzo in D minor, Piano Concerto No.4 in G minor, Vocalise and Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18. The following day, Guerrero and the orchestra perform Rachmaninov  Isle of the Dead, Piano Concerto No.4 and Piano Concerto No.2

Earlier in the month, Guerrero returns to the BBC Symphony Orchestra for a studio concert on 1 December. He records Piazzolla Sinfonía Buenos Aires for future broadcast, as well as Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with Pavel Kolesnikov.

Nashville Symphony Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero opens the orchestra's new season with four concerts between 10 and 13 September 2015. The programme for the season opening concerts includes John Adams On the Transmigration of Souls and Beethoven Symphony No.9 'Choral'.

Other highlights of Guerrero’s 2015-16 season with the Nashville Symphony include Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 with Joyce Yang plus a Nashville Symphony co-commission of a Guitar Concerto by Jonathan Leshnoff; Michael Daugherty’s Organ Concerto, which will be recorded live; Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto performed by Stephen Hough alongside Sibelius Symphony No. 2; Mozart Requiem; a live recoring of works by Jennifer Hifdon, including another Nashville Symphony co-commission of a Viola Concerto that performed by Roberto Diaz; Beethoven Piano Concert No.5 and Shostakovich Symphony No. 11; Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and Dvořák Symphony, and the season will close with Mahler’s Third Symphony with mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor.

Giancarlo Guerrero steps in to conduct four concerts with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) on 27, 28, 29 and 30 August 2015, replacing Alondra de la Parra. Guerrero conducts works by Jan Järvlepp and the Mexican compoer Silvestre Revueltas, and he and the orchestra are joined by percussion ensemble Tambuco who perform Järvlepp’s Garbage Concerto for recycled garbage. It will be recorded for broadcast by TV Cultura.

Giancarlo Guerrero travels to the Grafenegg Festival on 4 July 2015, where he conducts the Tonkünstler Orchestra in a programme of works inspired by Spain. Guerrero and the orchestra perform Strauss's tone poem Don Juan, 'Iberia' from Debussy's Trois Images, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio espagnol and de Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain with Javier Perianes.

The concert will be broadcast on Ö1 on 13 July.

Following a successful concert with the Brussels Philharmonic in May 2015, Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the orchestra for the closing concert of the Musiq3 Festival on 28 June, where he conducts works by Bernstein, Adams, Gershwin and Stravinsky.

Guerrero and the orchestra are joined by soprano Sumi Hwang for Gershwin Summertime, Bernstein I Feel Pretty and Stravinsky No Word from Tom. Pianist Natacha Kudritskaya, who also performs earlier in the festival, plays Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue.

Giancarlo Guerrero and Narek Hakhnazaryan make their Royal Festival Hall debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on 1 May 2015. Guerrero conducts Hakhnazaryan and the LPO in a performance of Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor and Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Hakhnazaryan made his debut with the orchestra in Brighton in March 2013, and will play with them once again this year on 4 June at the Salisbury Festival.

The following week Guerrero returns to the Brussels Philharmonic, an orchestra he has often conducted in the past. Together they will play a programme that features Hadyn Symphony No.100 ‘Military’ and Górecki Symphony No.3 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’.

Giancarlo Guerrero and Kirill Gerstein join forces for a concert at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra on 24 April. The all-American programme includes R. Sierra Fandangos, Copland Quiet City and Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue.

Gerstein’s performance of Rhapsody in Blue with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in November was greeted with wide acclaim, with BBC Music Magazine commenting that

“It’s certainly hard not to be aware of a creative mind interrogating the score as he performs, absorbing and transforming it into apparently spontaneous expression. The rhythmic subtlety and control of tone and voicing are exceptional, yet he can vamp with piano bar abandon... this was a riveting chamber dialogue which gathered the subversive momentum of an in-joke shared.”

Giancarlo Guerrero conducts an American-themed programme with the Orchestre National de France on 19 February – his first performance with the orchestra.

The new commission by Benzecry that opens the programme echoes pre-Columbian mythologies. It is followed by Ives The Unanswered Question, Adams On The Transmigration of Souls and Lieberson Neruda Songs, which will be sung by Kelley O’Connor.

During October, Giancarlo Guerrero returns to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and conducts the Residentie Orkest for the first time.

On 9 and 10 October, Guerero conducts the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in Terry Riley’s Organ Concerto, performed by Cameron Carpenter. The concerto was premiered in April 2014, and varies from gospel organ, ragtime and jitterbug to a waltz.

Guerrero then conducts two concerts with the Residentie Orkest, his debut with the orchestra, on 17 and 19 October, with the programme including Rimsky-Korsakov’s overture to ‘Russian Easter’, Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 with soloist Wibi Soerjadi.

The concerts in Dr Anton Philipszaal in De Haag will be narrated by journalist Laura Starink.

Giancarlo Guerrero makes his debut with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in three concerts in June.

Guerrero conducts the orchestra at the Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt on 20 June, and in Gießen on 19 June and Weilburger on 21 June.

For each concert he conducts a programme of Dvorák Carnival Overture, Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5 and Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G major, K.216 'Strassburg'. The soloist is Caroline Goulding.

Click here for more information on the concerts.

Giancarlo Guerrero makes his debut with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for a special project at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, on 30 April. Guerrero will conduct Shostakovich Symphony No.9 and the concert is part of the very popular programme Les Clefs de l’Orchestre, led by French presenter Jean-François Zygel.

This debut follows Guerrero’s return to the Brussels Philharmonic on 26 April. The concert is his second this season with the orchestra, and he conducts Shostakovich Symphony No.7 ‘Leningrad’.

Click here for more about the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France concert, and click here for more about the Brussels Philharmonic concert.

Colin Currie performs Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto in his first concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero, on 21 and 22 March.

The concerts are part of the orchestra’s prestigious residency at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, of which Guerrero is Principal Guest Conductor.

As well as Higdon’s Percussion Concerto with Currie, Guerrero conducts the orchestra in Mozart Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio and Holst The Planets. The Planets The latter work will be performed with high definition NASA images from space projected above the Orchestra on a large screen.

A regular performer in North America, Currie then travels to Toronto to perform the Canadian premiere of Kalevi Aho’s Sieidi with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, conducted by John Storgards. He returns again later this season to perform with the Utah Symphony and Buffalo Symphony Orchestra in April 2014.

Giancarlo Guerrero has won the third Grammy Award of his career.
The award, in the 'Best Classical Instrumental Solo Performance category', was for his recording, with percussionist Christopher Lamb and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, of Joseph Schwantner's Percussion Concerto. The recording was released in 2011 on the Naxos label as part of Schwantner: Chasing Light album.
Having won the 'Best Orchestral Performance' and ‘Best Classical Contemporary Composition’ for his recording of Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony and Deus Ex Machinathe the previous year, this is Guerrero's third Grammy Award with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, of which he is Music Director.