Giancarlo Guerrero is a six-time Grammy-winning conductor whose imaginative programming and “curatorial and interpretive creativity” (Chicago Tribune) draw out of his orchestras “exceptionally powerful and enchanting performances” (BBC Music Magazine). His contagious enthusiasm on the podium has led critics to praise his “clear and exacting beat and a gift for shifting between ferocity and tenderness” (San Francisco Chronicle) and his style that is “at once vigorous, passionate and nuanced” (BachTrack).
The 2024–25 season was Guerrero’s 16th and final season as music director of the Nashville Symphony, after which he has transitioned to the position of music director laureate. Throughout his tenure, Guerrero championed the works of prominent American composers through commissions, recordings and world premieres. Under his direction, the Nashville Symphony commissioned and premiered nearly two dozen pieces — including works by Béla Fleck, Ben Folds, Jennifer Higdon, Hannibal Lokumbe, Terry Riley and Victor Wooten — and released 21 commercial recordings, which have garnered 18 Grammy nominations and 11 Grammy Awards across multiple categories. In his final season, Guerrero conducted works by Mason Bates, Julia Wolfe and C.F. Kip Winger in concerts that were recorded live for future release on Naxos.
As part of his commitment to fostering the work of contemporary composers, Guerrero, together with composer Aaron Jay Kernis, guided the creation of the Nashville Symphony’s biannual Composer Lab & Workshop for young and emerging composers.
Guerrero begins his tenure as music director of Sarasota Orchestra in the 2025–26 season.
The 2024–25 season also included return engagements with major American orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Boston Symphony and Cincinnati Symphony, with international engagements including those with Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo in Brazil, Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie in Saarbrücken, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra.
Guerrero has also appeared in recent seasons with prominent North American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and those of Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Montréal, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver and Houston. Internationally, he has worked with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, New Zealand Symphony, and the Sydney Symphony and Queensland Symphony in Australia.
Guerrero recently completed a six-season tenure as Music Director of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. With that orchestra, Guerrero made several recordings, including the Billboard chart-topping Bomsori: Violin on Stage on Deutsche Grammophon and albums of repertoire by Szymanowski, Brahms, Poulenc and Jongen.
Guerrero previously held posts as principal guest conductor of both The Cleveland Orchestra Miami Residency and the Gulbenkian Symphony in Lisbon, music director of the Eugene Symphony and associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Born in Nicaragua, Guerrero immigrated during his childhood to Costa Rica, where he joined the local youth symphony. He studied percussion and conducting at Baylor University in Texas and earned his master’s degree in conducting at Northwestern. Given his beginnings in civic youth orchestras, Guerrero is particularly engaged with conducting training orchestras and has worked with the Curtis Institute of Music, Colburn School in Los Angeles, National Youth Orchestra (NYO2) and Yale Philharmonia, as well as with the Nashville Symphony’s Accelerando program, which provides an intensive music education to promising young students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. giancarlo-guerrero.com