Nashville Symphony Opening Weekend to Feature Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero

Nashville Symphony and Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero open the 2024/25 Season with a favorite guest of the Nashville Symphony and two works that nod to Guerrero’s first season in the role. Pianist Joyce Yang performs Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Guerrero also revisits Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, a celebration of the virtuosity found within the orchestra, with its triumphant fanfare and stormy drama. The concerts take place on Friday, September 13 and Saturday, September 14, 2024 at 7:30 pm at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Tickets are available at nashvillesymphony.org/openingnight.

Guerrero will conduct 8 of 15 Classical Series programs throughout the 2024/25 Season, with the full Series offering seminal works to showcase the versatility of the Orchestra’s musicians, including Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8, and Gustav Mahler’s Fifth and Eighth Symphonies. In addition to beloved staples of the classical repertoire, he will also give voice to underrepresented composers, including works by Carlos Simon’s The Block and Fate Now Conquers, Mary Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite, Joan Huang’s Tu-Jia Dance, Osvaldo Golijov’s Sidereous, and Jasmine Barnes’s Four Winds Concertante, among others.

GIANCARLO GUERRERO’S FINAL SEASON

Giancarlo Guerrero’s 16-year tenure as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony culminates with a final season that showcases the Orchestra he has developed into the award-winning powerhouse it is today. His unwaveringly high musical standards and commitment to American music – while retaining a unique Nashville stamp on everything the Nashville Symphony does – are all displayed throughout the 2024/25 Classical Series and beyond. During Guerrero’s time at Nashville Symphony, he has:

· Overseen 24 Premieres: Two dozen works have been commissioned and premiered under Guerrero’s leadership – including works by Connie Ellisor, Béla Fleck, Ben Folds, Jennifer Higdon, Hannibal Lokumbe, Terry Riley, Wayne Shorter, and Victor Wooten.

· Hired 34 Musicians: Guerrero has hired 40% of our Orchestra musicians, including current Concertmaster Peter Otto and 10 other principal musicians.

· Released 22 Recordings: To date, Giancarlo and the Orchestra have released 22 commercial recordings together, most were recorded live before Nashville audiences. These recordings have garnered 11 GRAMMY® Awards and 18 nominations across various categories. The most recent release, Organ Concertos, was recorded with organist Paul Jacobs and released earlier this month.

ADDITIONAL 2024/25 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

This season, Guerrero and the Symphony record three live works for future commercial release. Violinist Gil Shaham returns to the Schermerhorn alongside the Nashville Symphony for Mason Bates’s Nomad Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Bates composed the work specifically for Shaham and performs the work alongside pieces by Stravinsky and Verdi (October 17-19, 2024). After the recent world premiere of Her Story during Nashville Symphony’s 2022/23 season, Pulitzer Prize-winner Julia Wolfe returns for the live recording of Flower Power alongside the iconic Bang on a Can All-Stars (January 24-26, 2025). The Nashville Symphony will also perform and record for commercial release rock artist and GRAMMY® Award-nominated composer Kip Winger’s latest work, Violin Concerto No. 1, featuring Concertmaster Peter Otto (May 9 and 10, 2025).

SPECIAL EVENTS AND PRESENTATIONS

Arguably the world’s foremost violinist, Itzhak Perlman, joins the Orchestra for a one-night-only evening of cinematic works (February 18, 2025). Additionally, there will be a Tribute to ABBA (August 21, 2024), John Paul White with the Nashville Symphony (September 24, 2024), Violent Femmes with the Nashville Symphony (October 9, 2024), An Evening with Fran Lebowitz (November 13, 2024), Dionne Warwick (November 19, 2024), the return of Kodo (March 18, 2025), and a live-to-film performance of Gladiator (July 2, 2025).

Principal Pops Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez conducts his final full season with the Nashville Symphony and leads five of the Orchestra’s seven Pops Series concerts, representing a range of artists, genres, and styles. The Series begins with the one-of-a-kind Pink Martini (October 24-26, 2024) and runs the gamut from country legend Lyle Lovett (April 3-5, 2025) to a symphonic tribute to Phil Collins and Genesis (November 14-16, 2024) and ends with three nights by iconic folk pop duo Indigo Girls (May 29-31, 2025). Lopez-Yañez also conducts a powerhouse lineup of musicians as they perform hits of the ‘90s and ‘00s Latin pop explosion during La Vida Loca (May 1-3, 2025).

The Nashville Symphony’s hugely popular Movie Series returns for five full-length classic and hit movies with the Orchestra performing the scores live-to-film; and the Jazz Series features concerts from Herbie Hancock (September 18, 2024), Arturo Sandoval (October 13, 2024), Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap (March 9, 2025), and Lettuce (April 30, 2025). The Ann & Monroe Carell Family Trust Family Series also returns with four Sunday afternoon programs designed to introduce young audiences to the Orchestra.

The full season can be found at NashvilleSymphony.org.